Show me your garden ponds large and small please!

[susandelgado]

I'm trying to decide what to do, I bought a fibreglass pond but now I think it's too big, help me make my mind up 😊

I never see the baby frogs though, they may get eaten by the fish. Do you mean the tadpoles, or the stage when they've developed legs and lost the tail?

Can't lose all as needed to keep mozzies down! The newts and frogs will do that for you, along with damsel fly larvae and other invertebrates. You don't need to keep the fish/

We've just built ours under our covered terrace, our goldfish are arriving on Thursday and the kids are so excited 🐟

Love all these tips. Has anyone built a container pond (with ramp) rather than sunk into the ground? Not for fish so much as for frogs and other wildlife

Mmecamambert where do you live?! Looks absolutely glorious.

@SurfnTerfFantasticmissfoxy in France, so space isn't a problem!

A mini pond for a mini garden made out of an old stone trough and a solar powered pump. Love it!!

@monkeyonthetable when you say tiny , how big is it actually?

Ooh I love yours @madeleinetheragdoll !

@susandelgado there's an article in Gardeners World magazine on setting up your own mini pond with useful tips in plants, location etc.

We've just dug ours out. The liner should hopefully arrive at the weekend.

Its big. Really big. In fact it could be a swimming pond (but it isn't). My liner is 17m x 12 m... I might need more plants than I'd first anticipated.

(Name change for this)

We inherited a small pond when we moved here which was a PITA to maintain though supported loads of wildlife. We replaced it with a bigger pond late last year and I love it so much. Managed to get native pond plants online from a specialist early in lockdown which was a relief and I'm amazed how quickly all the creatures have found it. It sits under a twisted willow which isn't ideal with leaves dropping but makes for a lovely riverside feel.

@susandelgado - it's about 4ft by 6ft in total including the shallow sloping areas. the deep pond bit is about 4 by 4.

Sorry, here isn't mini pond. Has lots of tadpoles and yellow flag iris. I do wish it was bigger but it is in proportion to my small garden.

not a great photo, we are in the process of clearing out the ground behind it, and we are going to build a second top pond behind it with a slate waterfall into the big pond.

pond is 3m x 2m, and is deep.
The plants all came from small cuttings from my dad. There are goldfish in there that are well over 10 years old 9they were big when we moved in 10 years ago)

I currently have an online shopping basket open trying to fill my new wildlife pond with plants. Any recommendations?

I currently have an online shopping basket open trying to fill my new wildlife pond with plants. Any recommendations?

Its recommended to have some oxygenators, like hornwort, to keep the water clear.

I've got some water-forget-me-not that the newts seem to love. That sits on the pond shelves just below the water.

Dragonflies lay their eggs in reed type plants so worth getting some of those. Be careful of the big spreaders though, they can take over.

My pond is only small so I have to be really careful it doesn't get too overgrown!

Dragonflies lay their eggs in reed type plants so worth getting some of those. Some species do, not all. But in a small pond you're more likely to get damsel flies. Both groups need vertical emergent vegetation like reeds for the new adult to climb out, shed their final larval skin, and fill out their wings ready for flight. Interesting to watch - you can see them change from colourless to red (or blue) over a few minutes.

@HasaDigaEebowai How big is it?

You should aim to have 2/3 of th ewater surface covered by plants. People often clear them more than that as they like the open water to see their fish etc.
Many plants are too big and too vigorous for a small pond. In my picture above you can see kingcups and bog bean going nuts, and the iris is a thug, but if you can be ruthless with them they are all great plants. Water lilies are huge, but a miniature one does well. Just remember to put it in a wire cage so fish can't get to its roots

@HasaDigaEebowai How big is it?

Its big. I don't need to worry about having too many plants. 12m x 7m approx

I don't need to worry about having too many plants. You may not say that in 10 years time

That's true!

Which two plants should I buy for my tiny wildlife pond, in addition to dwarf waterlily?

Venus - something reed like (see what pp have said about damsel flies and dragon flies) and ot has the advantage of growing up not out so doesn't take up so much space.

Something oxygenating, usually sits under the water surface, provides shelter and oxygen

12m x 7m approx

sounds lovely!
Bog bean, water lilies, kingcups, iris, reed (I think it is called mare's tail? stripey reed)
There's a lovely one like a spider plant that floats up in spring and sinks down in winter.