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Every wildlife
garden, however small, needs a little water - somewhere for birds to
drink and bathe, maybe a cool damp place for a frog or two, or a
habitat for breeding damselflies, plus a wildlife pond of any size
provides hours of enjoyment for a wildlife watcher.
A pond need not take
up a lot of space either. If you have room to make something
more spectacular then nothing in a wildlife garden is more worthwhile, but
in a small garden or even on a patio in a larger garden, a
‘mini-pond’ can be great for your local wildlife as well as a constant
source of interest to the garden owner! Of the seven ponds I have made
in my garden, four of them are tiny ‘barrel-ponds’ and they provide
constant pleasure, interest and photo opportunities.
A small pond
made from a container, a 'mini-pond', can be made quickly and easily. Wooden barrels cut in half
for use as garden planters are often available from garden
centres and are perfect for making a tiny pond. Choose one that
hasn't had drainage holes made in the bottom and looks water tight without any obvious
cracks around the sides. Find a level spot for it in your garden in sun or
light shade. If you have an opportunity to leave it outside in
the rain you will find the wood swells and holds water
perfectly - these barrels are, after all, made to contain rum,
sherry or whisky and their smell can tell you which of these
substances they once contained!
Once you are
sure your barrel is water-tight start by placing a thick layer of garden soil
to cover the bottom - the aquatic plants will need somewhere to
anchor their roots. I often place discarded turf from the
garden, upside down, in the bottom as this gives the plants a
firm footing and makes it a lot easier to plant your chosen
species - simply push their roots into the upturned turves. If
you cut the edges of your borders with an edging tool you can
use the larger discarded pieces for this. Next you can gently
fill your mini-pond with water and leave it to
settle for a few days.
Native oxygenators
and small non-invasive wetland
plants are your next priority. I favour Lesser Spearwort and
Water Crowsfoot in particular – the spearwort for its flowers
and the crowsfoot for its ability to create, over time, a dense mat of
vegetation that supports the weight of bathing birds. Push the
roots of your plants gently into the soil or turf, let
everything settle down and add a dash of duckweed to shade the
water and keep it cool.
It is
important that a mini-pond like this also has some means of
access for other wildlife that might be interested in using
it. In my garden frogs in particular use the ponds that have
been sunk into the ground (see the picture below) but if your
barrel is on a patio - and outside a window is a great
location for wildlife watching - then it may need additional
turf in a third of the pond - or stones - that just reach the
water level to allow safe access and also a way out.
A tiny pond
of this sort can also be lowered into a hole in the ground
where frogs and common newts will appreciate the environment,
but in my garden most activity occurs in the mini-pond
standing on paving outside my window. Tits, finches, robins
and wrens use it daily while Grey Wagtail, Chiff Chaff,
Whitethroat, Redstart and
Great-spotted Woodpecker have also taken advantage of the
water here. Perhaps the most exciting visitor was a Stoat
stopping by for a drink – a magical wildlife encounter.
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