Garden wildlife week - How adding a pond will help garden wildlife
Monday June 5th marks the start of Garden Wildlife Week 2023.
It's a good time to get your customers, talking about ponds, if they haven't been already!
At this time of the year gardens are looking their best with carpets of foliage setting off an abundance of blooming flowers.
In amongst all of this will be plethora of insects, from ants to ladybirds, butterflies to snails and hopefully lots of bees all doing their bit in a haven of wildlife.
Adding a pond to a garden
Adding a pond to this environment is like the finishing touch to a garden. They attract extra creatures such as frogs, newts, dragonflies, and lots of other insects. It adds more balance, and can become a dining area for larger wildlife such as hedgehogs, birds, and bats. No garden should be without one!
A wildlife pond doesn’t have to be big and doesn’t even have to have fish either. You could make one in a small bucket, an old bathtub, a large plant pot, anything that holds water. Simply fill it with rainwater, add some water plants, and finish it off with a few stones or gravel on the bottom, and some rocks or logs to help the creatures get in and out. Job done!
These are best sunk into the ground, but they don’t have to be, you can stand them on your patio or set into your planted areas, and you can have as many as you like!
That makes it sound amazingly easy, and that’s because it is. If you wish for something grander, something to become the centre piece of your habitat then a plastic preformed pond or a sheet of pond liner is for you. They don’t need to be any deeper than 40cm and it will attract even more wildlife as well as becoming an attractive feature in its own right.
Once this is all done, simply watch and wait, the wildlife will come on its own, those wonderful creatures are always looking for new habitats.
Tips:
Plants, such as miniature water plants are best for small wildlife ponds.
There are lots to choose from but here a few suggestions:
For growth above the water’s surface:
Miniature bulrush (Typha minima)
Water forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris)
Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium)
Double Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris plena)
Iris Versicolor
On the water’s surface:
Pygmaea Rubra is a beautiful, reddish-pink flowering tiny water lily.
Water Hawthorn, smells lovely, flowers for most of the year and good at attracting dragonflies.
Frogbit, is an excellent floating plant and not too invasive.
Underwater, these plants release vital oxygen:
Hornwort
Water Crowsfoot
Water Milfoil
Livestock
You can add a few snails if you like, such as the Stagnalis or Ramshorn species.
If you wish to add fish, we would also recommend Sticklebacks as they are commonly found in these types of habitats.
Hopefully these tips can encourage you to talk to some of your customers about ponds, or will provide a useful resource for your customers if they are thinking of starting a pond!
If you are a customer with us and have any pond related questions, please contact our sales team, who will be happy to talk about anything pond product related! See a range of our stock below!
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Garden wildlife week - How adding a pond will help garden wildlife
Monday June 5th marks the start of Garden Wildlife Week 2023.
It's a good time to get your customers, talking about ponds, if they haven't been already!
At this time of the year gardens are looking their best with carpets of foliage setting off an abundance of blooming flowers.
In amongst all of this will be plethora of insects, from ants to ladybirds, butterflies to snails and hopefully lots of bees all doing their bit in a haven of wildlife.
Adding a pond to a garden
Adding a pond to this environment is like the finishing touch to a garden. They attract extra creatures such as frogs, newts, dragonflies, and lots of other insects. It adds more balance, and can become a dining area for larger wildlife such as hedgehogs, birds, and bats. No garden should be without one!
A wildlife pond doesn’t have to be big and doesn’t even have to have fish either. You could make one in a small bucket, an old bathtub, a large plant pot, anything that holds water. Simply fill it with rainwater, add some water plants, and finish it off with a few stones or gravel on the bottom, and some rocks or logs to help the creatures get in and out. Job done!
These are best sunk into the ground, but they don’t have to be, you can stand them on your patio or set into your planted areas, and you can have as many as you like!
That makes it sound amazingly easy, and that’s because it is. If you wish for something grander, something to become the centre piece of your habitat then a plastic preformed pond or a sheet of pond liner is for you. They don’t need to be any deeper than 40cm and it will attract even more wildlife as well as becoming an attractive feature in its own right.
Once this is all done, simply watch and wait, the wildlife will come on its own, those wonderful creatures are always looking for new habitats.
Tips:
Plants, such as miniature water plants are best for small wildlife ponds.
There are lots to choose from but here a few suggestions:
For growth above the water’s surface:
Miniature bulrush (Typha minima)
Water forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris)
Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium)
Double Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris plena)
Iris Versicolor
On the water’s surface:
Pygmaea Rubra is a beautiful, reddish-pink flowering tiny water lily.
Water Hawthorn, smells lovely, flowers for most of the year and good at attracting dragonflies.
Frogbit, is an excellent floating plant and not too invasive.
Underwater, these plants release vital oxygen:
Hornwort
Water Crowsfoot
Water Milfoil
Livestock
You can add a few snails if you like, such as the Stagnalis or Ramshorn species.
If you wish to add fish, we would also recommend Sticklebacks as they are commonly found in these types of habitats.