Can I suggest a little solar fountain? The ones they sell for bird baths are ideal and add the sound of moving water which is lovely and also seems to attract more wildlife.
Can I suggest a little solar fountain? The ones they sell for bird baths are ideal and add the sound of moving water which is lovely and also seems to attract more wildlife.
Thanks, I'll have a look at that. Do they keep the water clearer?
@FlyDragon I find they do help and they certainly oxygenate it. I have a little tub of water for the bees on the allotment and the fountain bubbling away seems to attract them. Some people say they keep mosquitoes away not sure how true that is.
@FlyDragon I find they do help and they certainly oxygenate it. I have a little tub of water for the bees on the allotment and the fountain bubbling away seems to attract them. Some people say they keep mosquitoes away not sure how true that is.
Thanks, just googled and you can get them pretty cheaply, worth a try!
I'm sure I'll be back asking for more advice once the stuff arrives!
I can attest that moving water does nothing to deter mozis.
I find my pond too shallow because its level drops too fast and I have to refill it every few days in the summer. I would guess that 20cm/50cm or so is really a birdbath - except my birds don't use it because there are too many cats around. I have some frogs that like it. I was undecided about whether its function should be a bird bath, a water feature (with a fountain) or a wildlife pond. In the end it does none of these things well. But it has been a useful experiment. Most of the time it is a green sludgy puddle so dense with blanket weed (despite all efforts) that you can stand a spoon up. So it's more like a blancmange.
Cats annhilate wildlife and we just have too many of them around in a small London terrace to make a proper haven unless the pond was covered with wire netting.
I never see cats in my garden, the old decrepit dog who wouldn't be a threat to them even if he could see them seems to keep them away. The birds have got more sense and seem to realise the dog isn't a danger.
Update in case anybody's interested! Mini pond is in, as well as the plants you can see there is a dwarf water lily on the bottom, and two bunches of hornwort, although I think I'll have to get more of that. Its pretty murky even though I washed all the bricks/gravel that went in, hopefully it will clear on its own!
Next job (probably tomorrow now as the rain has set in) is to plant up the surround area and to place some logs/stones on the outside to allow easy access and shelter.
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I think it'll be fine.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I'm sure I'll be back asking for more advice once the stuff arrives!
Next job (probably tomorrow now as the rain has set in) is to plant up the surround area and to place some logs/stones on the outside to allow easy access and shelter.