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UK and Ireland Menu
PART
1 - Introduction - your garden and how to help bring back wildlife
you
are here> PART
2 - Pond life & how to make a wildlife pond
PART 3 - Mammals,
birds, plants and insects - environment and care
PART
4 - Reduce food miles and grow your own fruit and veg
FURTHER
READING - A great selection of wildlife gardening books
Further
information for Schools
Wildlife ponds
are easy to make ... so here's how
As we've already
mentioned, the world's amphibian population is disappearing at an
alarming rate. At the same time, natural wildlife ponds and bog
areas are disappearing - being drained in both the countryside by
encroaching development as well as in the back gardens of older
homes. Environmentally unfriendly new trends in gardening mean that
many house-owners are designing their gardens with no respect for
how the local wildlife might interact with it. Besides excessive
shingling and decking, another environmentally unfriendly aspect
of garden design is the "water feature" Often created
around a circulatory system involving electric pumps which passes
water around a series of channels tubes and ramps - finally ending
up in a concrete bucket or small pond with hard, high walls containing
a few ornamental fish. This kind of "water feature" has
nothing to do with harmonizing with the natural environment, even
though people who create these so called stress relieving environs
think it does!
You can play
an important part in helping to reverse both this trend and in turn
the increasing threats to our wetland wildlife - at the cost of
just a few pounds - and you will also educationally benefit from
this simple "life-creating" project.
But before we start - a word
about goldfish, ornamental ponds and the environment
Goldfish or
any ornamental fish and wildlife ponds just don't mix. If you want
to build an ornamental pond then you are looking at the wrong web
site. However, there's no reason why you shouldn't consider having
both types of ponds in your garden (as long as they are at least
15 metres apart to prevent contamination of the natural pond).
It is simply untrue that fish keep down the algea in ponds. In fact
fish generate excessive amounts of body waste, which causes a build
up of sludge and other toxic based problems for other pond-life,
plants and water. By laying out a fish-free wildlife pond in the
right mix of shade and sunlight, your pond water will naturally
manage itself throughout a yearly cycle.
Goldfish eat dragonfly eggs, newt eggs, toad eggs and many other
pond insect eggs. Such fish are simply an alien species when added
to a wildlife pond whereby the ecology of this mini bio-system is
destroyed.
To enjoy a real wildlife pond you need a little patience at first
before you begin to see signs of underwater life, but when it eventually
kicks in, the diversity of creatures large and small will soon fullfill
your wildest expectations. It will prove far more interesting than
a few bored ornamental fish and at the same time you will be playing
your part in VeggieGlobal's aim to encourage the re-establishment
of natural pond ecosystems across the world.
Laying the Foundations
First, choose
an area of your garden that gets an equal measure of full sunlight
and shade - Dappled sunlight caused by trees and shrubs is ideal
and is the balance how any natural pond will flourish. This is to
allow not only the pond plants to flourish, but also to help your
tadpoles develop properly. (Not enough light or warmth can stop
tadpoles turning into little frogs). Natural ponds flourish best
in these conditions also because the presence of algae stays well
balanced - while providing food for the pondlife it doesn't spread
out of control from too much sunlight. With naturally occuring pondlife
your pond will be perfect. Over a year cycle you may find the pond
gets cloudy at times while other times you will notice it becomes
crystal clear. This shows that your pond is perfectly balanced.
NOTE: Never build a pond next to a sycamore tree.
A decent small size pond would be around 2.5 metres by 1.5. So for
a pond this size you will need at pond liner and underliner which
is at least twice the length and twice the width of the pond.
This is to allow for what you loose in depth, shape and edge tucking.
It's important to make sure you dig an area of the pond deeper than
around 90cm. This is so that if your pond freezes in winter there
is still unfrozen water under the ice where pond life can survive.
Make sure that around two thirds of the pond edges lead up to a
shallow edge, like a beach effect. When digging your pond remove
the top soil first and pile it separately. You will need some of
this later when you have finished the pond.
After you have dug your pond area remove as many sharp stones in
the pond walls and bottom as you can. The earth you have removed
can be used as a base for a background rockery area for frogs and
toads to find shelter amongst rocks and plants.
Now line the pond with a layer or two of old news papers and magazines
(making sure to remove any metal staples).
Next, put a fairly thick layer of polythene sheeting over the news
papers making sure that there's plenty of spare sheeting left over
the edges of the pond.
Finally, lay in the pond liner itself. A good quality liner, again
making sure that there's plenty of excess liner left around the
edge of the pond. DO NOT cut the pond liner edges until you have
filled the pond with water and read the rest of these instructions!
Now fill the
pond up with water and when it reaches a point where it begins to
spill over the edge, stop filling!
TIP: If you can collect a few buckets of rain water this will help
naturalize the pond water.
Flatten the excess liner around the edges of the pond and now cut
off the excess leaving an even 12 cm overlap.
With a cement trowel or other flat spade type tool, cut a 16cm deep
slit into the earth about 4cm below the water line THIS IS IN-BETWEEN
THE POND LINER AND THE INNER EARTH WALL OF THE POND UNDERNEATH THE
SURROUNDING GRASS - (so pull the pond liner back to do this). Go
right around the inside edge of the pond to create this "slit".
When finished gently lift the slit up with the trowel creating a
gap and begin tucking in the access pond liner into the slit and
therefore underneath the grass. If you don't have grass then simply
open up the earth around the edge and hide the liner underneath
about 4cms of earth.
The end result is a neat grass edge, and most importantly, easy
entry and exit for all the pond life. Stoned edges and high banks
are no use in a natural pond environment. Besides, Hedgehogs can
fall in at night and drown if they can't climb back out of the pond
again.
Leave the pond to settle for a couple of days.
Now the magic
ingredient!
Find three or
four large plastic mineral water / soft drink bottles and rinse.
With your bottles, take a trip to a long established NATURAL woodland
wildlife pond where you know there are frogs, toads and other activity.
Fill your bottles up with the pond water, (but remember, no fish).
Bring them back and empty them into the middle of your new pond.
Find out from your local wildlife group where an ancient pond might
be. Such a pond would have been established for perhaps tens of
thousands of years and will be full of micro-organisms and nutrients
that constitute the perfect elixir that will bring your own pond
to a natural state very quickly. It's the biological kick start
needed to seed life and encourage pond visitors.
NOTE: When we say a natural wildlife pond to get your magic ingredient,
we mean just this - not your Auntie Joyce's or friend's garden pond.
Doing so will completely defeat the object and you also risk passing
on all kinds of artificial pond diseases into your new pond.
Introducing
Pond Plants and Pond Habitats
Now that you
have finished making your pond it's time to add the plants and grasses:
Put back a couple shovels of top soil into the deepest area of the
pond to create a muddy bottom. And lay another heaped shovel full
of earth where you are going to plant some reeds.
NOTES ON SOIL: If possible make sure that any soil you put into
the pond is free of chemical fertilizers or weed-killers. Remember
that previous house-owners may have ignorantly been using weed-killers,
grass treatments and chemical fertilizers before you took over the
garden. If you think your garden has suffered this kind of abuse
then try and source soil which you know is free of such pollutants.
(Remember chemical pollutants can stay active in soil for many years)
Some pond plants grow better in less fertile soil so check the growing
conditions of the pond plant before planting it in soil that may
be too rich.
The banks of
your pond should be grassy. Make sure around a half of the ponds
edge is left to grow long grass (and the rest can be short cut grass).
The long stems will eventually hang over the pond as it grows. Frogs
love these areas and grassy banks provide good cover for them. The
long grass will also act as a perfect climbing frame for dragonfly
larva. They climb out of the water and attach themselves to grass
or flower stems where they change into dragonflies. (More on this
later)
After a week
put a couple of water snails in the pond. You don't need more than
this as water snails breed easily and they will help keep your water
clean.
Note:
Don't introduce any fish into your natural wildlife pond.
Make sure you
leave a lot of the surrounding area of your wildlife pond to grow
natural long grass and vegetation at least two metres around parts
of the pond. This provides habitat for small animals and pond creatures.
Another welcome addition right next to your wildlife pond would
be a bog garden. Using the same principles as described in making
a pond, dig a hole (for example meter square) around half a meter
deep line it with pond liner then fill it back up with soil and
soak heavily with water. Plant a selection of bog / water plants.
This makes a great extension to your pond project!
Get your water
plants from a specialized water garden centre. There are many commercial
garden centres that are unscrupulously selling water plants that
are alien to our habitat. Some of these have escaped garden ponds
and our now choking many waterways around the British Isles. Make
sure that you request legal plants that aren't going to take over
the pond and suffocate it. Be sure that the plants you choose are
free of blanket weed. And if you see green furry looking stuff tangling
the water plants or even in the plant tanks of garden centres, don't
buy it. You'll just end up infesting your own pond with this choking
mess.
So a good balance of plants to start with would be a water Lilly,
a couple of airiating water-weeds, a water Iris in the shallows
and a cluster of bull rushes. This will do perfectly. If you don't
have any spare large rocks in your garden. Then buy some to arrange
around a rockery area behind your pond. Make cave type effects in
the dryer areas of your rockery where toads can live. You can also
use small terracotta flowerpots for this: dig holes in the side
of your rockery and push in the flowerpots. Half cover the front
entrance with a rock, plant plenty of herbage plants around the
entrances, and hey presto a great hang out place for toads!
In a shallow area of the pond itself lay bricks side by side (about
10cm apart) under the water and place a flat broken paving stone
on top, so that the surface of the stone is raised out the water.
Your frogs will love this and you'll notice lots of them sunbathing
on it during sunny days!
Note:
if you are unfortunate to find any choking mossy weed taking over
your pond or blanket weed covering the surface.... DO NOT use chemicals
to get rid of it. Remove this regularly by hand. Surprisingly these
weeds can actually stop returning after a while if you manually
remove it.
First signs
of Life
Pond Skaters
will arrive in your pond within a very short time - even in a few
days. They are so light they don't break the membrane of the water
surface and so they walk on it using their legs . Backswimmers and
Water Boatmen are amusing little insects that look as if they are
rowing upside down in the water! After a while, you'll soon see
water beetles and and tiny red water mites swimming around in your
pond. These are just a few of the many water insects that will begin
to arrive in and around your pond. Life has begun!
Here come the frogs!
In early spring
the pond will turn into mating mayhem for a while as frogs and toads,
hopefully in their dozens will arrive at your pond, to come and
chat up the opposite sex. The activity can be hilarious to watch...
like something out of a Loony Tunes cartoon... as frogs rent forth
a symphony of amusing mating calls, from deep bass croaks to parrot
like coos. They clamber on top of each other, sometimes four or
five deep! They bellow, squeak and splash around in a frisky frenzy,
but get too close to the pond and they'll dive underwater... probably
in a state of embarrassment! So keep your distance to observe the
entertainment! In a few days you'll have spawn filling your pond...
There isn't such a thing as too much spawn (unless you pond is so
small that the spawn has filled every corner ... see below). The
mortality rate of tadpoles is huge so the more spawn the better.
Only around 5 out of every 2,000 eggs will actually survive into
adulthood.
NOTE:
We don't recommend the handling of any amphibians unless it's absolutely
necessary - for example moving them out of danger - i.e. roads,
pathways and other human-generated hazards. Common frogs and toads
in the UK and Ireland are usually safe to handle - very gently,
but you should also read all the information further down the page
before doing so, including notes on legal issues.
If you need to handle frog or toads do so very gently and do not
use gloves. Always lay them down carefully on soft ground and never
throw them into water etc. Wash your hands afterwards in case of
any allergic response (very rare) or other bacterial or pathogenic
reaction (also extremely rare).
How can you tell the difference
between a frog and a toad?
A frog
has smooth, wet looking skin with a more pointed face than a toad...
It has dark stripes round its legs...and it jumps! Frogs have slightly
cheeky faces. (Dangle an earth worm in front of them and see what
happens!) Frog eggs (spawn) are laid in large jellyfied clumps.
Frog tadpoles have pointed tails.
Note: Check the laws regarding frogs in your country, since
some species have degrees of protection by law, usually to help
prevent habitat loss caused by building development.
A toad
has dry, lumpy looking skin and a more rounded face than a frog...it
has spotty legs, and it walks.. slowly! They have deadpan,
unamused looking expressions! Toad eggs are laid in strings, like
a pearl necklace up to three metres long. This strand of eggs is
usually wound around stems and leaves under water (so be careful
if thinning out water plants) Toad tadpoles have rounded tails.
It's pure myth that you can catch warts from toads!
Note: Check the laws regarding toads in your country, since
some species have degrees of protection by law, usually to help
prevent habitat loss caused by building development.
Newts
Newts are very
illusive creatures and it's surprising how they turn up in ponds.
Newts
tend to stay at the bottom of ponds or well hidden. But they come
out more at night-time. If you shine a torch into your pond after
dark you may well spot a newt swimming close to the surface. Newts
lay their eggs individually and wrap them in leaves (so don't disturb
underwater plants during developing periods). Newts will take between
2 and 4 years to reach maturity.
Note: Check the laws regarding newts in your country, since
some species have degrees of protection by law, usually to help
prevent habitat loss caused by building development.
Introducing Frogs, Toads and
Newts to Populate Your New Wildlife Pond
If you are in
a fairly built up city or in an area where other ponds are sparse
you may need to bring in frog spawn and a small amount of newt eggs
from a friend's natural and chemical free pond.
Frog Spawn:
Because there are so few ponds left, frogs are forced to congregate
in more concentrated numbers to lay their eggs in whatever pond
space is available. As mentioned above, this can lead to large jelly
mounds of frog spawn which can actually overwhelm a small pond.
So it can often be beneficial to remove some of the spawn and take
it to other / new wildlife ponds that otherwise may not have much
frog activity. To transport frog spawn use a standard size bucket
and fill with around 10cm of pond water, then carefully add around
two handfuls of spawn. Cover the bucket and take it immediately
to the new pond while keeping it out of direct sunlight. Gently
pour the spawn into the new pond. In Ireland the common frog is
protected, so first check with your local wildlife organization
to see if you will be allowed to transfer some spawn to a new pond.
Newt Eggs and Toad Spawn: Newts and toads have a different
method of laying eggs than frogs (see above). If you live in a country
where a protection law covers a species of newt or toad you first
need to check what type of newt or toad inhabits the pond. For example,
if you are very lucky you may have Great Crested Newt or Natterjack
Toad eggs, and in a country like Great Britain you must leave them
alone as they are a protected species and it's illegal to even touch
them or their eggs without a licence. (Great Crested Newts are not
found in Ireland)
So, first of all it is important to identify the type of toad or
newt species you have before considering moving some eggs to a new
wildlife pond. The more common of these two amphibians found in
the UK is the Smooth (Common) Newt and Common Toad (Bufo bufo) and
these are far more likely to be the occupants of a typical garden
pond. If these are unprotected species in your country (as they
are so in the UK) and you want to introduce the eggs of these species
to a new wildlife pond then you need to be careful how you do so.
Egg transfer to a new wildlife pond should only be done after the
new pond has established itself for one year. This is to ensure
enough nutrients exist in the new habitat.
First establish what plant in the pond you are extracting from has
some of the eggs attached to it (or where you think some may be
wrapped in leaves), then lift the plant from its roots and immerse
completely in a bucket of pond water. (You will likely be able to
split the plant so that you only take a small percentage of eggs)
Carefully transfer the extracted plant and replant it into the new
pond.
For more information
about the legal handling of wild flora and fauna see the Note
about Wildlife Protection in your Country
on our introductory page. Remember, if you are not sure what toads
or newts you have in your pond, or which eggs you may be allowed
to transfer to a new wildlife habitat, get in touch with your country's
official wildlife protection organization for legal advice.
Note:
it is also illegal in the UK to sell / trade in any kind of wild
amphibian or its eggs.
Feeding Tadpoles
The survival
rate of these thousands of frog, toad and newt eggs is very low
so every
measure possible should be taken to help these dying species survive
their early development. Even as tadpoles, very few will survive
to adulthood.
Carcasses of
dead pond creatures etc. can be nutritional food for tadpoles. However,
to help them have more chance of survival and therefore grow into
frogs and toads it's a good idea to feed tadpoles: Find a thumbsize
piece of leftover meat (veggies can acquire this from a carnivorous
friend!) and pack it into a wire mesh (or the netting that fruit
sometimes comes in) attach this to a piece of string about 25 cm
long and tie the other end of the string to the centre of a long
bamboo stick) lay this across the pond so that the meat hangs in
the water about 10cm deep. Now watch the tadpoles as they discover
the food... in a few minutes every millimeter of the food ball will
be covered with hundreds of tadpoles. The meatball should be replaced
every week or so. Note: instead of a stick laid across the pond
you can also use a wire coathanger or something that acts like a
fishing rod effect so that your meatball hangs off the end of a
"rod "(it looks tidier). (If you want to add a really
kitsch attraction to your pond how about a gnome holding the "fishing
rod"?!)
The Magic of Dragonflies,
Damselflies and Mayflies
During the summer
your pond will hopefully attract Dragonflies, Damselflies and Mayflies.
They will spot your pond from far away in the air as they catch
its reflection in the sunlight. Then they will fly down to meet
up with other water flies. Here they will mate and depending on
the species, the females will lay their eggs either on the surface
of your pond or in plant stems. Dragonfly larvae or nymphs, do tend
to look rather unpleasant looking creatures! A light brown alien
/ roach looking insect with claws and a body length around 2 to
4 cm long, scrapping around the bottom of the pond. But leave them
alone. They will even eat tadpoles, but remember this is just part
of nature's true balance, as frogs will eat dragonfly larvae. When
hatched the larvae or nymphs will live in your pond from between
one to three years, again depending on the species. When they are
ready to pupate they will climb out and onto a blade of grass or
plant stem where it will miraculously turn into a beautifully coloured
flying creature (the transformation takes between 12 and 30 hours).
Light Maintenance of Your
Pond
If, after time
your pond really takes off and it looks as if the water-weeds are
getting a little out of control, then there's no harm cutting some
of this away. You should make sure that around a half of your pond
is clear to allow light through to the water. If you cut some water
plants back be careful when you lift the plants out has there may
be dragonfly larvae, newts and tadpoles mixed up in there. Very
carefully loosen them free, preferably by holding the plant underwater
and "shaking" them free. Pull off any water snails that
are attached to the plant and put them back in the water. Pond thinning
is best done in mid late summer or very early spring before the
spawning season so that you don't disturb too much pond life. And
don't thin the pond out once there is spawn in the pond (as early
as late winter) as toad spawn can easily get tangled in pond plants
and so should be left until they develop in to tadpoles. Newt eggs
are individually wrapped in leaves, so again, be very careful not
to disturb these. Frog and toads hibernate during the winter months.
Female and smaller frogs usually find shelter under logs and stone
walls, as do most toads. But male frogs usually stay at the bottom
of the pond. If your pond freezes in the winter you must melt the
ice. If you don't the life underneath can suffocate when all the
oxygen in the water has been used up. Don't break the pond ice with
a hammer. The shock waves will harm the pond creatures. Simply hold
saucepans of hot water on the ice until it melts.
Safety around ponds with young
children.
Far to many
overprotective and simply short sighted parents will remove ponds
if they have young children. Instead of taking measures to keep
a young child away from the potential danger, parents simply get
rid of the pond and devastate all of its wildlife, which has a knock
on effect for disappearing amphibians and insect life over a very
wide area. (See also Note
about Wildlife Protection in your Country
) The
friendly way to live with the natural environment of your garden
is to segregate areas which are safe for your children. For example,
patio areas with sandpits and garden toys can be fenced / walled
with a gate so that young children can play there safely. Or even
arrange your pond in a place that could have its own fenced area.
Consider the educational advantages of having a pond in your garden.
It will offer great learning value for your children as they can
learn close-up to respect nature... and the they will also
learn how to be safe near water... all good qualities for a growing
child.
Your little piece of a Wildlife
Wonderland
If you have
followed the guidelines laid out here you would have hopefully managed
to create an active haven of wildlife in and around your pond. The
results will be clear to see over year or so. And you can be proud
to say you have played your part in re-introducing otherwise declining
wildlife and nature back into one small part of the world. Continued
- PART 3 - Mammals, birds, plants and insects - environment and
care
The additional
section for schools will also provide useful information for anyone
who is building a wildlife garden and pond - click
here
Copyright
John O'Donnell (VeggieGlobal.com and Looking-Glass.co.uk)
Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents
of these websites in any form is prohibited.
UK and Ireland Menu
PART
1 - Introduction - your garden and how to help bring back wildlife
you
are here> PART
2 - Pond life & how to make a wildlife pond
PART 3 - Mammals,
birds, plants and insects - environment and care
PART
4 - Reduce food miles and grow your own fruit and veg
FURTHER
READING - A great selection of wildlife gardening books
Further
information for Schools
More Related Areas
Sharing
This Planet With The Animals - a useful guide to help you
live side by side with your animal friends please
click here
UK and
Ireland may also wish to visit the Wildlife Files section
here at VeggieGlobal for more advice about wildlife friendly gardens
please
click here
For
a wide selection of books on wildlife, ponds and organic gardening
please visit the dotCOMpassionZone here at VeggieGlobal... click
here
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