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Ponds & wildlife

• Message 1. 

  Posted by botanist (U14427025) on Saturday, 17th April 2010

  Just saw Joe making a new pond. He mentioned the depth to protect any resident wildlife but failed to emphasise the need for an easy escape ramp. Small critters such as hedgehogs, bathing birds, useful ground beetles, not to speak of frogs/toads/newts and their resulting babies after the tadpole stage all need an easy escape route up & out past the smooth liner and overhanging edging. Otherwise they will drown - even frogs etc will be unable to finish growing on land or leave after breeding as they normally do and will starve.
  
  A pot or two of plants in the corner making a 'staircase', an artistic pile of stones, even a bit of rough wood plank at a gentle slope will do it. But make one. Imagine being a few inches long and swimming around desperately looking for a way to scramble out .....

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by garrigillgal (U14258845) on Saturday, 17th April 2010

  Botanist - so true - when we moved to our present house we decided to renew the existing pond and when we excavated the sludge from the bottom of the old one there were at least 3 hedgehog remains - very sad.............

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by Madonplants (U5524817) on Monday, 19th April 2010

  To be fair to Joe, it wasn't finished was it, which is something I don't always like on GW? I don't see too much wildlife coming to his pond, taking into account the rest of the garden layout, although I do think it should have been mentioned, all the same, as one dead Hedgehog/Bird/Frog etc. is one too many in my book.
  
  As to the two weeks before putting any plants in, not overly necessary, as I've moved house, made a buried tub feature to keep pond plants brought with me and within 2 days, I had two frogs! I was digging the hole and filling with tap water, while the removal men were unloading the house stuff. Aerating the water, it only takes ~2 hours to get rid of any chlorine in the water, quicker if using a chemical dechlorinator, which is the main thing you need to worry about. The Iris that I had over planted, with cobbles on top to help wildlife get in and out, flourished and needed to be split the following year!
  
  Other thing is, I thought the pond should have been totally filled before fixing the edging, but I can maybe see why he did it like that! I wish I could 'find' a pond liner like that, just hanging about, too!
  
  

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• Message 4

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by bluebell (U2142771) on Monday, 19th April 2010

  I think I agree with most of you.
  Personally I don't think there's a need at all to let water dechlorinate before putting in plants, just for pond creatures. If he leaves it 2 weeks he will just have a pond of greenwater. At least if there are plants in, these will be using up some of the nurtients that the algae "feed" on.
  
  I think the whole pond concept was a bit of an afterthought and a cop out, squeezed into too short a time.
  Yes, he was lucky to find a second hand pond, but he showed none of the problems of digging the hole to fit it. This is really quite difficult what with getting levels right and stony ground, roots, collapsing sides, getting the shelves in the right place.
  He didn't wash it out first.
  He'd obviously spent ages practicing putting it in , and didn't backfill with sand properly.
  Yes, someone said he should have filled it before fixing the top. He should have half filled, checked the settling, then fully filled and back filled.
  
  Let's hope when he puts plants in he:
  uses non invasive species...but I bet he puts in parrots feather etc;
  puts in lots of oxygenators and explains why;
  he puts in lots of marginals;
  he puts in a ramp (he should put this in now);
  he doesn't put in fish
  he doesn't put in a pump and filter
  he puts in a logpile and rock pile (both can be recycled)
  

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by jennie-wren (U9422284) on Tuesday, 20th April 2010

  I have a 8" deep 24" wide ex water feature thing filled with rain water, not even buried in the ground just siting on the top of the soil. when I looked on Sunday there was a newt in it, amazed. I popped a small plank in there just incase he couldn't get out, seemed sensible to me!

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by hypercharleyfarley (U7444019) on Tuesday, 20th April 2010

  Hello - What a pity - Joe made it all seem too easy, and as a result people will try to do the same but, perhaps, will find that it doesn't really work.
  
  In my view, this sums up what a lot of the more recent GW programmes have been all about - "have a bash, but we won't have actually told you everything you need to know". What a pity. Ma.

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