It has long been known that a pond is a key element in a garden for those who are serious about attracting and supporting wildlife.
Whilst the pond is relatively small – a little bit smaller than the average bath – it very quickly attracted a range of wildlife and became home to a group of frogs and other assorted water flies and water boatman.
As with any small pond birds also made good use of it for both drinking and bathing.
As this is quite a small pond we have been careful to manage it to ensure that not too much debris builds up in the bottom of the pond. With the cherry tree adjacent to the pond and a considerable number of deciduous plants dropping their leaves into the pond we try to remove as many as we can. On average about every 2-3 years we will undertake a major clean out and “dredge” the bottom of the pond – usually in early winter to minimise disruption to any water creatures and giving the pond enough time to settle before the frogs spawn.
The pond was originally installed in 2009 and survived until 2026 without being replaced or repaired – although since about 2022 the water level kept dropping lower than could be accounted for from simple evaporation! In 2026 we made the decision to replace with a rigid pre-formed pond set in the old pond liner. We have managed to keep most of the original mini-gabions installed back in 2009 but have changed the planting area between the path and the pond.
Pond Plants
We have tried to include plants suitable for a small pond but the Water Lilly very quickly outgrew the available space and only flowered a couple of times with just one or two flowers. In 2025 we moved this into a separate “Lilly pot” resulting in a proliferation of flowers in 2026 – as seen in the picture below. This pot has also become a drinking place for birds!
