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5
CREATING
A GARDEN
POND
‘A Garden Pond is a joy and you can
make one in a weekend”
Alan Titchmarsh
POND CONSERVATION’S
TOP TIPS FOR CREATING
THE PERFECT WILDLIFE
POND:
•
Clean water is essential for making
great wildlife ponds.
Rainwater is usually
best, as tap water often has high levels of
dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus. These
nutrients will discourage aquatic plants
and encourage growth of algae and
duckweeds.
• Waiting for rain?
Set up water butts to
collect water from the roof of your house,
a garage or an outbuilding a couple of
months before you dig your pond, ready
to fill it up once it is lined. You can also use
this water to top up your pond during the
drier summer months. Doing this means
you won’t have to reach for your hose.
•
Provide homes for aquatic creatures
by making natural edges with really
shallow water.
The greatest variety of
animals and plants live in shallow water at
the very edge of the pond, often in just a
couple of centimetres of water. The best
wildlife ponds have very gently shelving
natural edges, fringed by grasses, creating
perfect homes for amphibians, and for
invertebrates like dragonflies and water
beetles.