Testing for photo adding....

[kathateria]

(Hopefully) Here is a photo of my newly set up pond


I have seeded the front,with grass seed,so it looks a bit more inviting for frogs and newts. This is where the exit and entrance point is.
The back is edges (will be) disguised with rockery plants,which will grow over the edges, to disguise the liner.
This has proved successful with my washing up bowl pond,which always had frogs nearby.
Plants are just sort of put in,to make themselves at home.All native plants.
A friend gave me some pond snails,and another friend got me some tadpoles,from their lake! Just need some rain now....

[Red Robin]

I notice that you've got a couple of solar lights very close to your pond. It'll be interesting to see what other folks here have to say but I wouldn't have thought it a good idea to subject your pond creature inhabitants to 24hrs of light and to therefore deprive them of a natural and seasonal period of darkness.

[Deb London]

Lovely kath. Well done.

Until some of the plants grow, I would provide a ramp for exit, important for hedgehogs as well as amphibia. I have used a natural wood plank (not treated, cut from a tree) in similar circumstances. Others use rocks/large pebbles to form steps.

[kathateria]

Solar lights are rubbish,to be honest.its not a light that is useful,nothing more than a fairy light. Decoration really. (I will take a pic in the dark,so you can see what I mean)
Although,public parks are lit with street lights,and wildlife manage to get there,so I reckon they have evolved with it!
I will have to get a wooden ramp,any woods to avoid?

[kathateria]

I might just use rocks.With keeping fish,Ive always got rocks around,as they like a rocky set up,and I am always changing rocks!

[GCN lova]

arent rocks dangerous for emerging froglets as they could be stuck on them during the heat?

[Deb London]

Yes, if you have rocks, make a beach.

I didn't. I had poles from a plum tree. They can be tied together with nylon string to make a wide ramp.

[Deb London]

Originally Posted by GCN lova

arent rocks dangerous for emerging froglets as they could be stuck on them during the heat?

Concrete and artificial rock is bad - far too porous. But I've not had a problem with natural rocks. And that duckweed and algae that kath has will coat the "beach" as the pond level drops in summer.

[kathateria]

Ive found 2 perfect rocks.They are like a step.The bottom rock is thick with algae,as its been outside in a bucket.
The top one,was under the plant,and thick with moss,so very weathered! Perfect grip for little paws

[Kayleigh]

Its looking good but I am not sure when we will get any rain and if you dont keep it topped up the pond will become brittle and crack in the heat of the sun and the depth will be easier for wildlife to get in and out if the pond is topped up.
Can you get a water butt to capture rain water to top the pond up..