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Wildlife pond

Gareth Thomas 296Gareth Thomas 296 North wales Posts: 25
in Wildlife gardening
Hi hope somene can help I put a small wildlife pond in around four years ago and I never seen any frog spawn in it all I see is snail and skaters and nothing else. I have some plants in the pond like frog bit and a small lily and an plant that' at the bottom of pond. Do I need anything else or will they just come one day 
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  • nutcutletnutcutlet PeterboroughPosts: 26,850
    If there are any around I'm sure they'll turn up eventually. Frogs tend to go back to the pond they came out of so introduction of frogspawn gives you a start. Some people fear this could introduce infection to your pond but it's common practice.
  • Gareth Thomas 296Gareth Thomas 296 North wales Posts: 25
    I have seen the odd frog in the pond but never any spawn. I have tried putting spawn in from other ponds to see if that will help 
  • nutcutletnutcutlet PeterboroughPosts: 26,850
    They take time from tadpoles to breeding age. Is everything else right for them, access in and out of water, vegetation round the edge, no fish or other predators eating them, no slug pellets in the food chain?
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 28,554
    Baby frogs need to eat and also safe places to hide.  Have you provided enough plants to attract the insects whose larvae they will eat as young frogs?

    https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetectives/blogs/nature-detectives-blog/2017/03/frog-facts/

    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • Gareth Thomas 296Gareth Thomas 296 North wales Posts: 25
    I have a few bog plants around the pond and a place behind the shed for frogs to hide in. I gave orderd more plants to go around the pond so hopeully that should work. I did notice last year loads of little things swimming around the missus said it looks like mosquito larvae
  • nutcutletnutcutlet PeterboroughPosts: 26,850
    A wildlife pond need a wildlife garden to go with it. Not too tidy, leaves and log piles around, flowers for the insects (not just bees) and a total lack of chemicals.
  • Fishy65Fishy65 Posts: 2,272
    It's not too shady is it Gareth? 
  • Gareth Thomas 296Gareth Thomas 296 North wales Posts: 25
    No it gets a lot of sun 
  • Fishy65Fishy65 Posts: 2,272
    In that case it sounds like you've just been unlucky. Reiterating what Obelixx and nut have said, providing a suitable habitat around your pond is as important as the pond itself. Along the furthest side of my pond I dug a 'trench', incorporated some leftover pond liner/old compost bags, then refilled with soil. I've got purple loosestrife, meadow sweet etc creating vegetation where amphibians can hide.

    Also near the pond are piles of cuttings, logs etc where they can hibernate  :)
  • Goldfinch 60Goldfinch 60 Posts: 127
    Finally, after 7 years, today I see frog spawn.
    There were always frogs in the garden, but no spawn.
    2 years ago I took spawn from another pond.

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