Wildlife pond build

Phil_j_83

I thought I'd share my recent wildlife pond build with you all.

It's a small pre-fab pond with a small bog garden at the end of it, which has yet to be planted up. It's in a sunny position away from trees.













Happy to hear thoughts and advice on planting for the bog garden, frog homes, planting around the pond.

Hopper you all like it!

Hostafan1

Is your bog garden "lined"? Usually they have a plastic "lining" with a few holes punctured into it to hold more , but not all , water.
I think it's looking great so far, you've got plenty of water planting. Keep an eye on it and make sure they don't go too mad.
I'd make some sort of ramp, or stack so frogs etc can get up and over the timber edging.

Phil_j_83

Hi, yep lined with pvc pond liner with a few holes poked through, layer of gravel and then backfilled with the soil. Naturally I forgot to take photos of that most important part! 

The pond has an escape ramp built into it and I have added rock in places which breaks the surface for additional ways in and out. 

I'm hoping that the plants will be fairly limited due to the small pot sizes I've kept them in, but I'll be on the lookout for them getting too over enthusiastic! 

Hostafan1

I saw the ramp in the pond, but frogs etc will struggle to get up and over the timber to get to the pond. That was my thinking.
Maybe you've made provisions not visible in the photos.

Phil_j_83

Ahh I see, you mean the fact it's enclosed in a raised bed? All the beds are and are all linked together and the only access into the garden is via other gardens which are linked to the beds. 

That being said, I see your point about a frogs ability to clamber up to the beds if they decide to jump off...

I'll look at creating a few access points around the garden! Thank you! 

Fairygirl

I'd agree with Hosta, Phil - if you don't want to place logs or rocks for extra access, you could plant some ground hugging plants at the edges of the raised beds. Anything from aubretias and dianthus, to heathers and heucheras, to form a little slope in and around the beds.
It looks like you have artificial grass though [?] so that may be tricky.
I can recommend Ligularia for your boggy end too - excellent plant for sun and damp soil, and great for bees and hoverflies 

Julia1983

Hi Phil, we did something similar in our garden, on a slightly smaller scale!  (excuse the ducks...not to everyones taste I know!) Our garden is surrounded by walls and fencing so we are not expecting frogs but it has a lots of interesting little creatures in!  I read that a bit of floating wood was really good in a pond so found this bit and popped it in, and it was a platform last year for bees/wasps/the odd robin to come and take a drink. For reasons of economy we used old clean bricks as plant platforms and creatures like hiding in the holes in those too.. have you put any oxygenating plants in?  Love the grass you've got round the sides, looks great. We've also got a boggy bit lined with pond liner (to top of pic), currently its got marsh marigolds (would recommend... native and has done well- you can just see in the pic one is flowering now, very pretty flowers) iris, primula beesiana and scabious. have you considered a dwarf waterlily if you've not got one already?  they look lovely and will do well in a sunny spot.

Phil_j_83

Hey, it looks great to me 

Yeah I'm going hunting for some wood to surround the pond and have some bits dipping in to act as perches and access points. 

I've got some hornwort and another floating oxygenator, a dwarf lily, marsh marigold, the tall equistium I think it's called and a mini version as well as a couple of other plants I forget the names of! 

Yeah we have a large artificial lawn level with a large decked area which is all level with the inside of the house so the kids can play out all year round and run in and out the house seamlessly.

Initial ideas for the bog garden are iris, loosestrife, ragged robin and vistas with something to give ground cover too. 

Julia1983

sounds like we've got pretty similar stuff   I have purple loosestrife in a border (whole garden on one side is pretty boggy)  and I loved it last year, very pretty but it did get tall. I'm growing ragged robin from seed at the moment, will try that in the border too. I read to be careful with some iris as they can take over, not sure how much of an issue that is where you can easily remove won't you don't want though. Your garden sounds lovely, I would have loved a little pond when I was a child so hopefully yours will take an interest! 

DampGardenMan

Julia1983 said:

sounds like we've got pretty similar stuff   I have purple loosestrife in a border (whole garden on one side is pretty boggy)  and I loved it last year, very pretty but it did get tall. I'm growing ragged robin from seed at the moment, will try that in the border too. I read to be careful with some iris as they can take over,

Snap! And yes the ruddy irises do take over They can be a pain to get rid of once they've made big clumps. I'd get rid of them all, but OH likes them.

Lyn

Snap here too, the loosestrife is actually in the pond, sitting on a shallow ledge.  It gets to about 6’ tall,  The Marsh Marigold is in full flower at the moment. I’ve also got water Forget me nots in there.