small garden pond ideas

[boroughboy]

hi all wondered if any people got suggestions on my dilemma,

i been doing me mums back garden up for her and enjoy it quite a bit but the last bit of garden to do is a strip of bout 3 1/2 ft by bout 10-15 ft which im gonna use a wildflower garden which apart from looking nice will attract insect and birds the latter being something we hardly get round are area even sparrows are rare nowadays but anyhoo im designin it so i can get a small pond bout 3ft high with a waterfall than i want to make a narrow stream bout 6inch wide run the length of garden to another pool where i house the pump to send water back to the top the main pond is have our big goldfish transported their from his aquarium, the lower bit im adding a couple of danios and mountain minnows which are tropical but also live in cold water (had a danio in pond) plus mayb coulpe lil stickleback im adding plants as the stream will have couple of deep pools for lillys or something to go in giving frogs spawnin grounds but its the flowers around it im looking at, the ground itself nothing much has ever really grown their years apart from weeds im gonna be mixin in good bit of compost 1st though and already have bout 3ft sq bit of garden with wildflowers i.e. poppies, cornflower, corn marigold ya everyday shop bought stuff but i wondering wot plants are gonna attract the most beneficial insects and in turn help attract more birds cos the numerous feeders i have up seems useless, oh and the garden will include plants i mentioned earlier and some wild grass that i collected seeds from but i want more ideas oh and cos most of the stream will only be between 6"-12" deep apart from where i make pools if anyone can suggest some small slow growin plants for shallower areas than that be great but all advice on plants for ground and water be greatly appreciated,

ps. sorry bit long and for the scholars i apologise for me punctuation (or lack of) LOL anyhoo i check back later byeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

boroughboy

[Dan Salter]

A small pond with fish in will still attract butterflies and insects...but isnt ideal for wildlife as fish will eat the eggs of most things including any frog spawn.

Whatever you decide on though...please make sure all if not at least one end is very gradually sloping ( like a beach) to allow wildlife in or out ( including fallen hedgehogs) or at least pile up logs or rocks to make escape routes ! .....good luck and enjoy.

[Gill Catton]

yes I agree with Dan with regard to the fish and as for danios, cloud mountains yes they are cold water fish - but their wild temp range is 18 c to 26 c which is still pretty warm! Plus I'm not sure they can survive winter cold temps the lowest they can go is 5 c, especially if they are of stock hatched and raised in warm water (which most for sale in aquarium shops are), why not leave them out - no risk of them dying then, and your amphibian, dragonfly/damselfly population amongst the other aquatic invertebrates will do a lot better.


Amphibious bistort is a nice plant, pretty to look at and versitile as it will grow both in the pond and around the edge.

Your proposed stream area sounds good but quite narrow, perhaps don't plant it up too much as it might become quickly overgrown and clogged - maybe consider low growing stuff like water forget-me not, or some water mint or perhaps sedums (sedum album or Sedum reflexum - bees seem to like these), put lots of rocks along the edge and mosses should grow eventually (check the source of rocks or pebbles though local stone is best).

Don't fertlise your wildflowers and remove as much topsoil as you can (you could put any topsoil on top of a pile of logs or rubble to provide suitable shelter and hibernation sites for amphibians or reptiles). Rich soil wil mean that grasses will out-compete your flowers within a couple of years.

Choose water plants with care, check they are native species unless you are certain they won't ever reach a natural water course.

[Dan Salter]

Top advice from Gill as ever x

[nightshade]

Well done for building the pond and well done for seeking advice here,look forward
to before and after photos.
The amount of wildlife that turns up will amaze

[boroughboy]

regards fish i know the main pond they wont get out cos thats sort of built up bout 3-4ft high from ground and the water be coming out from 2-3 bits of hose cemented into the wall and i agree that if i have fish in the main stream bit they would eat alot of eggs but i see how it goes i havent built it yet still doing plannin mainly due the size plus a lack of funds LOL regards fertilising the wildflowers not entirely sure on what ya mean by that i tend to just get the seeds of them when they finish flowering cos rest of garden is sort of normal i wanna try keep wildflowers to one main area if i can also i should ok regards plants gettin into water courses cos i live near council estate luckily its fairly quiet i already seen 3 toads in garden during tidyin up but to give an idea of where i am look up south bretton its bout 20-30min walk from ferry meadows which is big park full of lakes huge woodland ya walk through to get there aswell plus were aslo near a local farm and than pure countryside (marholm) towards stamford so im kinda lucky i got convenience of shops and what not plus i can escape to countryside within bout half hour when ever i choose, but anhoo back to the subject at hand LOL the plants im havin i dont want anything to invasive wether i can get something that will let through okay but not fish that way if i do tactics with plantin i can still have 1 or 2 small fish and still give wildlife good chance of doing its thing. but will keep peeps updated on how it goes and thanks for the advice peeps much appreciated

p.s. will get some pics when completed mayb some before and after mayb show other peeps what they can do in a small space given some time and effort.

well chow for now
boroughboy