The Natural Gardener
Ilove visiting my nearby friend’s pond, which always seems to be comically jam-packed with froglets. She looks on, amused as they croak happily all spring and summer in triple figures, exasperated at the brave souls that attempt to jump around the house. It never fails to bring a smile when you see dozens of eyes peering shyly at you through the pond’s surface!
It’s wonderful to see such a thriving habitat, particularly when you consider that about 50 per cent of all our ponds have disappeared over the last century. They’re a vanishing feature of our gardens, sadly, and yet they’re so valuable to the well-rounded wildlife garden.
In an ideal world we’d all have sizeable swathes of water, rife with amphibians, insects and birdlife, complete with beautiful pockets of pond planting, but many of our gardens just aren’t big enough. Don’t let that put you off, though, as any amount of water you can provide is an asset to your garden. Of course, the larger the better, but in ponds of 1 sq m (10¾ sq ft), or sometimes less, frogs can still spawn. Birds and other animals will also use it to drink, keep cool and bathe, of course, but it’s the insect wildlife you’ll help mostly. Dragonflies, pond skaters and more will flock to small ponds – all part of your garden’s biodiversity.
Mini ponds are so easy to make. Here, I’ve bought a container with no holes in, added a layer of gravel to the bottom and filled it with rainwater (the recent downpours helped!). Next I added large stones inside so animals can get out if they need to. It’s surrounded with large pebbles and rocks from the garden centre and with pots to plant up in spring. I’ll also add a couple of pond plants when the time comes, too. You can, if you've got the room of course, sink such a pot into the ground and surround it with pebbles and plants. I’m going to add three of these easy-to-make ponds to my plot, and I’ll let you know what comes to visit!