Making a small pond

[Brett]

Hi there,

I've been getting right into fixing up the garden at home, and I've got a couple of beds of vegies and some herbs and things going.

I've been reading Linda Woodrow's book about home permaculture, and one of the methods of pest control she recommends is putting a pond in the garden to attract creatures (i.e. Predators like frogs and lizards) that will do the pest control for me, So Yeah!!! No Pesticides .

Now I've searched the forum, and some of my concerns have been answered, and I might be coming across as a worry wart for asking so many other questions, but the situation is basic. It's not my garden alone, I have to justify any changes to the garden to my Dad (as it's his garden) and he wants to ensure that a pond won't become a greater hastle than it's worth.

So basically, it's not going to be a huge pond (I can get exact measurements if it should seem relevant) but i'm thinking it should be about the 2 metres by 1.5 metres, I'm not sure how deep I will make it, but maybe about 3-4 feet.

Ok so as for location, I'm looking to put it in a central location in garden under a few trees we have. Would it be better to have it in a sunny area?

Now my dad was mostly concerned that having a body of stale water will be a problem (I'm not sure exactly what he means, but I can imagine, mosquitos, algea etc). Is it important to have filtering, or can you have a pond that doesn't need filtering?

I plan to construct the pond from a piece of vinyl and secure the edges with stones, does this sound sturdy?

And lastly, has anyone tried this, does it help control pests?

Thanks for entertaining my post, I am just getting going with my garden, and it's really coming along. I hope one day that it will be a place where people can come and meditate, and enjoy the beauty of nature.

I'm also just starting to make some artwork for the garde, that will be made with recycled materials. The more time I'm spending working on the garden the more energy I am having for other things in my life, it's truly fantastic, I can't wait to taste the first beetroot when they're ready in a month or so .

(P.s. anybody want to see pictures of the development of my garden? I'm hoping to start documenting the process)

Cheers,

Brett

[teela]

Hiya Brett,

We have several ponds in our garden. I love ponds, almost every year we've had frogs and tadpoles in our ponds. Some had yabbies. I tried to put in native fish but they never survived, finally I caved and put in something I never intended to put in my ponds, goldfish. You'll need something to eat the mozzie larva that will most likely infest your ponds. Freshwater Mussels, if you can get some are also great in a pond, they help filter the water.

We have plenty of aquatic plants in our ponds, this gives the taddies somewhere to hide from the goldfish. We also have the dreaded Mosquito fish in our ponds. In SA this fish is declaired a pest species. We have no idea how they got in there.

I'm not sure where you live so hard to give advice as to what plants ect will grow well. Here ponds are best placed in semi shade because it's like an oven here in summer and the evaporation rate is so high. As far as I know if you want water lillys you need full sun. I also have water Iris in my pond.

One of my ponds is an old bathtub, pretty good, the other one is like what you want to build, a plastic sheet with rocks around the edge. With the plastic liner, make sure you buy the thicker stuff that is actually sold as a pond liner. This is a little more expensive but it is well worth it as using normal black plastic always gets leaks. Make sure you line the hole with sand first as recomeded in all the books, or try our idea (a little weird but it worked) try lining the hole with a thick layer of old newspapers instead of sand.

None of our ponds have filters or water fountains. We've never had problems, our water is always nice n clear, but have seen other ponds look dreadful, green, smelly ect, not sure what we are doing right but I suspect it is the amount of aquatic plants we have.

Good luck with you pond Brett, yes we'd all enjoy looking at pics of your garden.

Cheers
Teela

[pebble]

I'd like to see your garden progress photos too

With the pond, care is needed to make sure that anything that falls in can get out.

Teela, with the bathtub pond, do you have that sunk into the ground? How do you plant in it? Are the plants growing in water, or in soil right beside the water? A bath seems like a very easy and accessible way to set up a pond, I just can't see how to plant things (being largely ignorant about water plants). Morrow suggests reeds all around ponds, so I guess they are planted in soil but kept moist?

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Brett

Great to learn that you are continuing with the gardening around your home, and that you are continuing to raise your Dad's level of awareness as to the benefits of this practice.

For a little bit of a hand with convincing your Dad that a pond (wetland) is a good thing, check out the following fact-sheet put out by the ABC's Gardening Australia:

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1175687.htm

One thing to remember when constructing a backyard pond (wetland) is to ensure that it will be safe for children, pets and native wildlife. A fence or mesh grill will stop children/pets from falling in and drowning, and rocks or logs protruding from the surface of the water - and extending to the edge - will ensure that native fauna can find refuge when they fall in.

Cheerio, and don't forget to tell us how you get on,

Mark.

PS: How's the composting coming along?

[hedwig]

The pond site depends on the climate you're living in.
I could maybe attract cane toads.
You can plant edibles in the pond.
Frogs do need something to climb out.
Fish eat mosquito larvae.

[Brett]

Wow so many helpful replies, thank you all so much.

And It's really good to have some encouragement Mark, i've had to argue my case for just wanting to take care of the garden (as opposed to letting it just die), so it really helps.
Oh and the composting is doing real well. I've been turning it about once every 1 to 2 weeks, and have been able to extract some of the compost that seemed usable.
I'm now growing 3 different types of lettuce, leeks, beetroot, dill, parsley, mint, applemint, celery, beans, rhubarb, chinese broccoli (especially excitied about this one ) and watercress.

I mean how yum a salad does all that sound like? :-D

So as for my location, I'm living in inner suburbs of south-east of victoria (Caulfield for anyone who's around melbourne). We have a very energetic dog, named Zulick (it means Wild Thing, I can't remember if it's in Afrikaans, or in Yiddish, but it describes him perfectly [16 years old and still runs around like a puppy, he's amazing]), so I'm concerned that any wildlife the pond attracts might be harmed by having the dog around.

Also I'm still going to check with the local council to see if there is anything I should be aware of in what kind of animals start living in the pond. I think I would want frogs and some kind of mosquito eating fish.

I do have two nephews who are starting to get around abit so I will be fencing off directly around the pond area.

And Teela, there was a bathtub outside a house down the road from our place the other week, I was sooooo tempted to pick it up and use it for a pond. I'm really wishing I would've it would look so beautiful.

As for growing things in the pond, is it possible to have plants grow if I use a vinyl lining? Do I just put soil at the bottom of the pond?

Well as soon as I can get out there with a camera I'll be able to show off

Cheers,

Brett

[teela]

Hi all,
With regards to my bathtub pond, yes it is sunk into the ground. At first it looks un-cool, like a bath buried in the ground. But disguise its edges with rocks and plant plants that will spill over the edges and in a matter of a few weeks no-one will recognise it as an old bathtub.

My water plants are planted in pots and submerged. Some plants can be free floating, in other words they just float around in the water and have no roots in soil. Nardoo, Water Primrose, Foxtail and Duckweed are those types of plants, there are lots of others but those are the only ones whos names I can remember at this stage. Some people will tell you not to put Duckweed in a pond...bah!!! Duckweed is a prolific grower and will cover the surface of your pond in a matter of weeks, so what! Scoop it off and add it to your compost, I think it's great stuff. Same goes with any other plants in the pond, once they get too thick and you need to thin them out just add them to your compost. Nardoo goes mad in my pond.

I have logs and branches sticking out of my ponds too. That gives the frogs somewhere to sit and rest on. We don't get Cane Toads here in SA, lucky! I don't think they are in Vic either, isn't it too cold? But maybe I'm wrong, someone enlighten me?

We also have a bog pond. It was once a normal pond but I didn't use the proper pond plastic as I advised you to use Brett. So as I said it would, it eventually got a hole (or several holes) and leaked. We simply filled it with sandy soil and planted reeds, hey presto, bog pond!

Have fun building your pond.

Teela

[pebble]

Thanks Teela, I'm feeling inspired, and a sunken bath seems like a good, easy place to start. I'll have to research NZ plants.

Do you refill the pond manually, or do you rely on rain?

[squirrel]

Hey alll thanks for all the great information about ponds, I am planning to convert my familys Para pool which is about 4m wide into a pond in a few weeks and this information will be very useful. I am planning on using the pools plastic liner for the pond but maybe adding another layerof plastic or something because I'm afraid of it getting leaks.

In terms of getting suitable plants is it ok to harvest low numbers from urban wetlands or should I research the plants to use thoroughly?

[kathleenmc]

Go for it Brett!

Ponds are such lovely things...they attract so much diversity to the garden...not just frogs but lizards, birds and insects like the dragonfly....

To have a healthy pond you really do need efficient water plants to help aerate the water. It is good to do research on this to what best suits your climate....I have arrow head and a stripey sedge in my water feature...a huge clay pot on the verandah. I also have ordinary goldfish because they are great survivors....and snails (2 types). I have a pot because I rent.

As for liners...this is tricky as some work well and others can be damaged so easily...that's why a bathtub is so good. Some plants are notorious for sending their roots thru anything....Phragmites reed comes to mind here....a great aeration plant but bloody invasive to the max....

Water features are a great compliment to any area in the garden...but in my opinion it is good practice to have them somewhere where they can be appreciated in silence...like a place under the trees or a small garden room....somewhere to sit and just be with the essence of nature. Lots of plants like to be near water as well....If you plant over hanging shrubs then birds will feel safer.....I have abutilon (chinese lantern) and fairy bells around my large, low placed, cement birdbath out the front of my place, it's regularly visited now....

There is lots of info in this forum for large natural ponds, Squirrel. Just do a search.

Keep on with the wonderful work Brett.....cheers Kathleen