What's the best depth for a marginal area with lots of plant species ?

[N0z]

Hey people just wondering does anyone know the best depth for a marginal area with lots of different species of plants ? (some of the plant species i plan on getting have to have the crown under the ice in winter when the pond freezes over)

thanks

[Shawit]

I redid my pond this spring. My advice would be to identify what you are rooting them in first. I bought 'pond socks' of 10cm height. I wanted a water depth of approx. 5 cms above the socks for the plants, so dug shelves that were 15 cm depth. Unfortunately, the pond socks snared newts legs killing 4 of the newts - the pond socks came out and I'd definitely avoid them.

I've ended up using planting baskets of height 11cm and cutting old plastic fluorescent strip light covers that were being landfilled as planting trays. After adding Lime free aquarium gravel this left me with shallow areas ranging from 1 to 8cm.
Brooklime and Water forget me not have grown well at depths of 5cm and less. Irises are doing well at depths of approx. 8cm. The frog tadpoles (now left ) and palmate newts spend a lot of time in these shallow margins and are easily visible.

[Kayleigh]

This book and the series is invaluable for new pond owners..


The Rock & Water Garden Expert (Expert books): Amazon.co.uk: Dr D G Hessayon: Books

[Tursiops2]

Ideally, what you want is a sort of beach, sloping gently down from a couple of centimetres above water level to about 40cm below. Creating a range of depth like this allows plants to settle into the conditions they like best. It also creates the best conditions for invertebrates etc.

T2

[King Edward]

How big is the pond going to be overall, and how much do you intend to devote to the shallow areas? Tursiops2's slope suggestion would be ideal, but it needs to be pretty gentle or else any sand or whatever you cover it with will slide down. Ina small pond, slopes can be tricky. An alternative might be a series of flattish shelf areas, maybe 1" deep, 2", 4", 6", 10". These different depths could even be at different points around the perimeter, rather than just sloping out into the middle, if the pond is quite small. Also, allow for a depth of perhaps 1-2" of sand on top for plants to root and animals to burrow into.

Which plants were you planning to get that need frost protection?

[N0z]

its roughly going to be 14 ft long 8 ft wide and 2 ft deep with 2 of the 4 sides dedicated to a marginal area for marginal plants is my pond going to be consider'd small, medium or large ? i havent quite made my mind up on the marginal plants but i will soon and ill let ya know and thanks for the info

[King Edward]

That sounds like a pretty decent size pond. I suppose I'd call it medium (not that it's important). Is this pond purely for wildife, or will you be having fish?

Since it's longer than wide, I'd suggest having a gradual slope down from one end and then pretty steep sides at the deep end (perhaps with a shallow shelf/lip just around the edge, for a fringe of low-growing plants to blend the pond edge into the surrounding vegetation) It doesn't have to be a constant slope down of course, it could be stepped or undulating to create more variety.

These two PDFs are useful:
Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife
NE27 - Garden ponds and boggy areas: havens for wildlife

[N0z]

Originally Posted by King Edward

That sounds like a pretty decent size pond. I suppose I'd call it medium (not that it's important). Is this pond purely for wildife, or will you be having fish?

Since it's longer than wide, I'd suggest having a gradual slope down from one end and then pretty steep sides at the deep end (perhaps with a shallow shelf/lip just around the edge, for a fringe of low-growing plants to blend the pond edge into the surrounding vegetation) It doesn't have to be a constant slope down of course, it could be stepped or undulating to create more variety.

These two PDFs are useful:
Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife
NE27 - Garden ponds and boggy areas: havens for wildlife

Thanks for the info and what is NE27 ? and should i download the link on that page, and the other link was very helpfull so thanks

[King Edward]

Yes, the link to the pdf is under the section 'PDF Downloads'. NE27 = Natural England leaflet number 27.

[N0z]

Originally Posted by King Edward

Yes, the link to the pdf is under the section 'PDF Downloads'. NE27 = Natural England leaflet number 27.

ah i see thanks