Tell me your pond mistakes.

[Slightlydustcovered]

Inspired by older DIY threads I am just about to install a pond in my garden. No fish purely for wildlife. What mistakes did you make? I really want to get it right first time. Thanks all

This book is excellent, so my recommendation would be buy this book and you'll learn everything you need to know!

My second recommendation is take lots of photos as it's incredible how much a pond changes over the first year or so. It really is a case of provide water and creatures will appear. It's quite magical.

I just leave scooped out weed on the side, I've got a little pebbly bit that I dump it on and the tadpoles etc can wriggle back into the water. It dries out in to a lump that goes in the compost.

I pretend that every little beastie gets back into the water and I ignore the robin which has sussed that the damp weed is worth a forage.

Mine was thinking I could start and complete it in an afternoon. It took me three days

Don't make it too big

Rescue the frogspawn in the spring, put it in a bucket (of water from the pond) and then put the bucket back in the pond so it stays cool. If you don't the newts will eat the frogspawn (they turn into something like soap bubbles).

Have more of a slope for marginals than we do - I've had to balance plants in pots on bricks so they don't drown....

Get oxygenators from ebay, have found them cheaper and better than shops.

In aquarium shops, you can buy drosophila (pond fleas). They are not fleas but eat algae and will keep your water clear. They are a source of food for everything else in the pond. They are sold as live fish food and are native to britain. They cost about a pound.

Echo what everyone has said about the planting shelves; you need to measure them out with the pot size you intend to use there and then allow a bit extra for the liner and any sand etc. Our planting shelves aren't wide enough in places so it's taken a bit of reshuffling the plants and propping up with bricks to stop them toppling in.

Also make sure you level the sides up with a spirit level so that the water fills up evenly and there's not any liner exposed on one side.

Very helpful thread, thank you.

Yes, newts have won here too. We get 6-12 clumps of spawn but we have to separate them into a newt-proof tank till the tadpoles are large enough to evade newts.

On the plus side, we have both palmate and smooth newts

Is it sensible to get a preformed pond liner? I was thinking it would be harder to dig to the correct size, but at least all the shelves would be there ready for you!

Oh I wish I'd known about newt proofing years ago! The newts won and we haven't had frog spawn for a couple of years now.
I will try and beg some spawn next year for a newt proof re-introduction.

Why are people upset about having newts? I'm planning a wildlife pond and would be delighted to get newts. Do they cause problems?

@Frenchfancy

Why are people upset about having newts? I'm planning a wildlife pond and would be delighted to get newts. Do they cause problems?

We love our newts! Also have plentiful tadpoles.

Not upset about having newts, I love them. It's just that they eat tadpoles. They are very cute like mini lizards, I find them all over the garden.

@Frenchfancy

Why are people upset about having newts? I'm planning a wildlife pond and would be delighted to get newts. Do they cause problems?

They eat tadpoles. One year we counted 169 adult frogs. Young frogs were all over the garden, you’d meet them when weeding. The next year we had 5 newts. Now we have about 70 newts, of two species, and meeting a frog in the garden is a red-letter day