Tips for happy pond life
❍ Don’t add wildlife—it just arrives
❍ A real wildlife pond doesn’t have fish— they eat spawn—so leave them out. Unfortunately, ours came with non-native goldfish, now mainly black, which we treat as feral—we never feed them. Despite this, and predation by snakes and herons, they thrive, as do toads, newts, dragonflies and caddisfly larvae
❍ ‘Ducks are a-dabbling’ might make for a pretty ditty, but the reality is less so. Mallards can be attracted to ponds, especially in the breeding season, and will soon make a mess as they search out snails and larvae from the bottom and probably gobble up the frogspawn as well. They can be difficult to deter, as they tend to arrive in late evening and leave at dawn, apart from the female that decides to nest in your shrubbery and whose 12 ducklings will have to face a traumatic— for you as well—waddle to the nearest river. The only real deterrent is a net over the pond, which isn’t attractive and not always feasible
❍ If you’re putting in a new pond, think about light and shade. Sunlight is important for wildlife, but so too is the shade provided by aquatic plants; too many trees nearby will mean the pond will quickly silt up with a mass of rotting leaves. The ideal is a deeper centre and various levels and shallows planted with marginal plants
❍ If you need to raise the water level, use rainwater, not tap water. This isn’t practical with a large pond, but don’t worry too much as the level of a natural pond will inevitably drop in summer without too much effect on wildlife. A natural drain might ensure it doesn’t overflow in the wet months
❍ Make sure the pond has a natural, easy exit from the shallows. Ornamental ponds with straight sides or slippery liners present a huge hazard for wildlife as they simply can’t get out. Ours has a gravel inlet, which is not only a handy drinking point for the hedgehog—and dog—but the route by which hundreds of morphing toadlets leave
❍ Once they’ve left the water, tadpoles, frogs, toads and newts are vulnerable, so the pond should be surrounded by natural cover in the form of plants, grasses, large stones and woodpiles
❍ During the summer, blanket weed might need to be removed. A long-handled shaving fork—as used for mucking out a stable—is a good tool for the job. Leave the weed on the side of the pond for a few days to allow wildlife to get back to the water, then compost
❍ Cleaning or pruning back of invasive plants or lilies should be done in the autumn before winter hibernation. It works best to do half the pond one year and the other the next
❍ In the same way that a clean and tidy garden can’t be a wildlife haven, neither is a pristine pond—it needs silt and vegetation