As well as being a relaxing and attractive garden feature, ponds are also essential for wildlife in the UK. Creating a pond in your garden is something that can be really beneficial to the local wildlife and also help you to relax when you sit out in the garden.
As well as being a place to get a drink from on warm summer days, a pond is also a thriving habitat of its own, even a small pond. When you set up a pond, you actually don’t need to do anything, wildlife will be able to find the pond quickly and will be attracted to the water.
You might notice all sorts of creatures arriving, from pond skaters and water boatmen, to dragonflies to amphibians like frogs and newts fairly quickly. Spring is the time to start looking out for frogspawn, which is laid in clumps around the reeds. When you spot this, leave it to its own devices, and look out for the arrival of tadpoles!
Before you start to build your wildlife pond, first you will need to plan it. Decide on where it will go and then you can mark out the size and the shape of the pond. Once you know this, you can then also start to make other plans – for example, think about water plants which are important for wildlife, and also add some colour to the pond. Go to somewhere like this plants for trade company to get what you are looking for.
Another thing to consider when you are deciding where to put your pond is how much sun or shade is in the area. Ideally, you would put it in an area that gets sun for some of the day but also gets shade. This way, you are not going to have as much trouble with algae as you would if it were in full sunlight, but full shade can be restrictive for wildlife and some pond plants too.
Another thing that many people want to do is create a place where they can keep fish. In this case, you will need a pump and a filter, but choose one that ensures that wildlife is not going to be sucked into the filter.
