|
Allotment Articles1.
Allotment Articles 2.
|
|
Creating A
Wildlife Pond
People are becoming more aware of nature these days and often want to give nature a hand in their garden in the form of a wildlife pond. This will encourage frogs and newts to establish themselves in the garden which will be very good natural predators of slugs and other pests that would otherwise attack the plants. A wildlife pond is best made with a pool liner which is a tough plastic sheet material. Just dig a hole to the required shape and line it with soft sand. Then finish by installing the liner and trimming it around the edges. Do remember to slope the sides of the hole gently so that hedgehogs and other animals can get out easily if they fall in while having a drink.
Another important point when digging the hole is to make plenty of ledges about 6 - 9 inches or 15-23 cm deep and 12 inches, or 30 cm across. These will be where you grow the marginal plants that like shallow water. Lilies can be grown in the deeper parts. If you wish to keep only native species of plants and fish in it, there is plenty of choice and generally speaking these plants will be cheaper than the more ornamental varieties. Some popular varieties are;
MENTHA AQUATICA- (Water Mint) VERONICA BECCABUNGA (Brook Lime) TYPHA (Bullrush) APONEGETON (Water Hawthorn) and STRATIOTES ALLOIDES (Water Soldier) There is a European water lily, a NUPHAR commonly called Brandy Bottle, because of its strong scent. It doesn't have a particularly exotic flower but it does have large leaves that will provide shade in the deeper water.
When planting pond plants it is possible to place a thick layer of soil in the bottom of the pond before filling it with water. This will enable you to plant directly into the soil and so avoid unsightly baskets. At first when filling the pond the soil will cloud the water, but after a few days it will settle. However if you are going to keep fish in it they will be forever digging into the soil looking for food and the pond will never clear, so in this case it would be better to keep the plants in special aquatic baskets.
As regards native fish to put into your wildlife pond there are green tench, common carp, minnows, mirror carp and stickleback to name but a few. Although, a well planted wildlife pond will soon attract lots of natural inhabitants in the form of frogs and newts, insects such as damsel flies and dragon flies and a whole host of beetles, pond skaters and other creepy crawlies will soon arrive.
|
|
