[Lottiegob]

I'm just in the process of creating my first wildlife pond -

  http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx159/lottiegob/pond005.jpg

I would welcome any tips on the next step, I have only just filled with tap water, so no plants or anything in the pond yet.  I am hoping to attract wildlife including frogs, so any suggestions for pond plants etc. and is it advisable to have any kind of small fountain in this environment?

[8doubles]

Hi Lottiegob, A fountain is not really practical in a small pond as the water gets blown outside the pond with the slightest breeze and you end up constantly refilling.
A bubble pump is handy for oxygenating in hot weather but frogs do not really like the disturbance of underwater motors running, they will get accustomed to it but it`s best turned off at spawning time.

If you put lilies in make sure they are a small leafed variety as it looks silly when 6 pads fill the pond, scrounge a bit of root of another pond owner as shop prices can be extortionate , same goes for oxgenating weed. It will be a bit of a balancing act with the weed  although the wildlife will be happy with a pond choked with weed it defeats the point if you cannot see it.

[Lottiegob]

Thanks 8doubles.   I was wondering if water snails would also be an option?  Which months are spawning time?

[JayG]

I would also say no to a fountain, partly for the reason 8doubles quotes and partly because it is not needed for a wildlife pond (the occupant's oxygen needs are small compared with fish.)

Snails breed all the time as long as the water is not too cold, and if you do get your plants from an established pond they will almost certainly have snail eggs on them at this time of year (but only if the donor pond has snails in, of course!)

Elodea is the best oxygenator but in my (goldfish) pond it has been outgrown by the more vigorous hornwort; either of them can easily be yanked out if it threatens to get too rampant (leave on the side of the pond for a while to allow creepy-crawlies to get back into the water.)

[Belvoir]

We have had a pond for a few years and frogs appeared very soon after we filled it!!!   now we have so many frogs its like an invasion   This week there have been  :happy:'baby'  :happy: frogs jumping all over the garden   don't know where they are going    we also have goldfish which are multyplying and allsorts of other things

[JayG]

Have to say that goldfish and wildlife ponds don't make a good mixture; fully grown goldfish will eat every live thing that will fit in their considerably-sized mouths.

This includes mozzy larvae (good) but also tadpoles, other underwater insect larvae, and even their own young fry (bad!) 

[Lottiegob]

Thanks everyone for all your advice.  I just went out and bought a water lily, a water hyacinth and a water iris and pond weed - do any of these need any additional food to survive or are they self-sustaining?

[8doubles]

The water plants should be ok as they are. I believe the water hyacinth is not frost hardy and needs protection to overwinter in this country.

[Ruby Red]

It would be a nice idea to scoop a bucket full of the gunge at the bottom from someones pond and put it in your own. This could help things get underway with larvae and eggs etc.

[Lottiegob]

Thanks.    Talking of winter/frosts, do I need to do anything else, does everything in the pond just hibernate under the ice?

[JayG]

It depends how deep the water is Lottie; the usual rule of thumb in this country is that you need at least part of the pond to be at least 2 feet deep to avoid it freezing solid, although even last winter mine never had more than about an inch of ice on it.

Floating a couple of weighted plastic pop bottles in it helps a bit, if the ice really persists it's not a bad idea to melt a hole in the ice to let the gases in and out. (Don't hit it with a hammer to break it, the shock wave will not do the inhabitants any good at all!)

[Belvoir]

Have to say that goldfish and wildlife ponds don't make a good mixture; fully grown goldfish will eat every live thing that will fit in their considerably-sized mouths.

This includes mozzy larvae (good) but also tadpoles, other underwater insect larvae, and even their own young fry (bad!) 

I know they say thet but I have had alsorts in my pond as well as goldfish 5" long (untill the Heron payed a visit) and as I said hundreds of taddies turning into frogs!

[evie2]

We have 3 ponds of varying size, the largest because all the rose bushes had black spot and had to be dug out. We used the natural slope of the garden for it's depth, used pond liner,  put some large pebbles on the shallow side and filled.  Next day we put 4 plants in and left it for a week before we added fish and snails.  Within 6 weeks we had baby fish, dragon flies, pond skaters, frogs, newts, butterflies and bees. A  We dug a 'nursery' pond for the baby fish; this was soon taken over by the newts.  Apart from removing overgrown plants, and an very occasional top up nature has taken over.
Two years ago we thought an ornamental pond with a solar fountain by the patio would be nice.  We bought a 'formed' pond and again within a couple of weeks it too had frogs, newts and all kinds of insects using it.   
I'd encourage everyone if it's possible have a pond it's a real asset to the garden.

[Lottiegob]

Thanks evie2 for that - will I get frogs now (July/hot)?  Also my pond has been insitu for about 10 days now, I did put a jar full of pond gunk from another pond yesterday which had some snails and I noticed a water-beetle, I had to clear the water as it is starting to stagnate and is developing green algae - will this get worse?  I put in the bottom a small bale of barley straw which I believe should eventually rot down and produce beneficial chemicals to contra this.   I also added some more pond weed.

[richyrich7]

Algae's a natural part of pond life, it'll take over until you have enough plants to balance it out, I'd leave it be all sorts of things live in it, if you want a true wildlife pond then just fill it and leave it alone nature will balance it out eventually.

Try adding a log one end in the water one on the side makes a good natural ramp and somewhere for creatures to hide in lay eggs on/in etc.
 
Last winter ours froze that solid that 3 of us could stand on it at 1 go, I never bothered with making holes in it etc. I think it's probably unnecessary unless you have fish, but in a true wildlife pond you won't have unless it's stickleback's or something similar.