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Biodiversity and Gardening - How to Attract Pondlife

How To Attract Pondlife

Garden Ponds have helped to conserve frogs, newts, dragonflies and many other water creatures as their natural habitats have become polluted or have disappeared. Ideally a valuable wildlife pond should be at least three metres across and about a metre deep in the middle, lined with a butyl sheet. An irregular or kidney shaped pond is better than a circle or rectangle and there should be a shallow shelf on the sunny side.

For wildlife purposes native plants are preferable, many of which such as yellow flag- iris, bog bean, marsh marigold and purple loosestrife are very attractive. Aquatics such as water crowfoot and water milfoil are important to maintain the balance of the pond. Large water lilies are only suitable for large ponds but there are also miniature floating plants such as frogbit and amphibious bistort. Blanket weed can be a problem initially, for which patience and a rake is required. The worst can be raked out but as the pond becomes established and the water snail population increases the algae usually disappears.

Tips

If you want to attract frogs, toads and newts:

Do not stock with fish which will gobble up tadpoles.
Top up with rainwater channelled directly from gutters or a water butt to prevent adding extra chemicals such as chlorine to the pond.
As an alternative to open water, a marsh can be created by backfilling a shallow hollow lined with a butyl sheet to grow wetland plants.
A dense area of undisturbed perennial plants adjacent to a pond is important for newts and toads to forage.

Problem pond plants

Certain exotic pond plants are very invasive and can swamp the other aquatic and marsh plants that are more desirable for wildlife. Many have become a huge threat to the aquatic environment from rivers to garden ponds.

Species to be avoided include:

Parrots feather (Myriophyllum Aquaticum) - originates from South America, it is very difficult to control, since it is resistant to most herbicides and shading. If you have this plant remove it, compost it, dry it and burn it or bury it; do not throw it away or put it near ponds or streams. The native Water Milfoil is a much better alternative.
Floating Pennywort (Hydrocotyle Ranunculoides) - originates from America and has caused problems wherever it is introduced outside its natural range. It is often confused with the native Marsh Pennywort which has thick waxy circular leaves as opposed to thin kidney-shaped leaves. If you have Floating Pennywort remove it, dry it and burn it or bury it; do not throw it away or put it near ponds or streams.
Water fern (Azolla Filiculoides) - originates from North America. Dense mats of Azolla can completely cover the water surface killing submerged flora and fauna. This can be controlled by scooping it off the water and adding it to a compost heap. It lacks nitrogen and makes very good compost.
Australian Swamp Stonecrop (Crassula Helmsii) - originates from Tasmania. It is found around the damp margins of ponds as small light green tussocks, spreading rapidly to form dense interwoven mats, killing other aquatic vegetation. Pieces as small as 5mm will regrow so cutting makes the problem worse. For small ponds the best advice is to pull the plant regularly for about 2 years. Alternatively the pond can be covered in black plastic for six months or filled in for a minimum of 2 years.