Inherited a fab pond - how do I keep it that way?

[dobeessneeze]

We have recently moved into a house that has a good sized pond. It's really healthy - it's full of frogspawn we've seen a frog and a newt this week already. I am terrified I am going to somehow kill it. It has a few different plants (no idea what any of them are), a few wee blobs of algae and loads and loads of those reedy things around the edges. The water is pretty clear - you can see down about a foot into the pond. It's fed by the rain barrel to keep the water level topped up, and the whole area around the edge is pretty boggy - the previous owners had the whole garden quite wild.

Will it pretty much look after itself or do I need to do anything? Skim off bits of leaves from the surface? Keep an eye on the plants to stop it getting overgrown? Anything else I don't know about?

It sounds like a 'wildlife pond', if you google you'll find loads of advice on how to maintain it (mainly 'do nothing' - my kind of pond). They are fantastic and support so much life. Sounds good that the water is clear, and plants round the edge to allow safe access in/out for wildlife. Also great that it is fed by water barrel. Need a decent amount of surface plant coverage to keep sunlight out and keep algae down in spring. I wouldn't put fish in or it gets a bit more complicated. If you get more plants choose native ones. Garden centre should advise on those but beware because they DO sell some invasive species that will take over your pond and are a threat to the environment. Enjoy your pond, I'm jealous, we moved to London and now have a postage stamp out back.

Do you have small children?

If so fill it in, put a hard steel grill over it or fence it so securely they cant go near it. Small children drown in garden ponds every year.

How big is your pond? You might be able to get pretty thick grade rebar to put over it, which will stop the children drowning and let the plants and frogs do their thing.

RoSPA has good advice on the grade of mesh to use. It must be above the water, but don't worry about the aesthetics, as plants quickly grow through it.