Make a pond from old car tyres

[~T~]

I remember as a kid seeing these in an old quarry at mine before it filled up with water. They were all over the place and had formed naturally(somehow holding water). They were a haven for wildlife especially newts and common frogs. So I was thinking about making one next year in my garden and found this link. I would prbably use a regular car tyre and maybe not bother cutting the edges as but the guide is pretty good.

Fish pond from tractor (or car) tires

[tom00_uk]

get a dedicated container if your after a small pond, as the tire weathers it will leach compounds into the water and surrounding ground that are less than ideal for organisms

there are a lot of papers on this - try for starters ScienceDirect - Chemosphere : Environmental labeling of car tires—toxicity to Daphnia magna can be used as a screening method

[wanlock dod]

Tom has a very valid point. PAHs and Zn are usually the main culprits. Regular changes of water may be required once the tyres start to degrade to keep the toxins to tollerable levels. It woudl probably work fine at first, but once the degradatioon of the tyre really gets underway, perhaps a year or more down the line, you would proabably see problems.

[~T~]

Cheers guys maybe not the best idea then though I half got the idea from this very forum where people were talking about growing plants including veg in them. Would this be the same deal then? Wouldnt the veg grown not be suitable for consumption?

3-Tyre Plant Pot

[tom00_uk]

generally things like brassicas are a no go in areas where there are elevated levels of metals like lead and cadmium in the soil as they are very good at taking in the metals via their roots

zinc is not regarded that highly in the chain of offenders, so less of a issue.

[Littlesparrow]

This has surprised me because Bob Flowerdew on Gardeners world, use to show a water reserve made of old tyers with a liner on top, in his garden, he used this water to irrigate his plants.