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How to Create a Pond in a Bathtub?

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  • #1

    How to Create a Pond in a Bathtub?

    We've recently got a new allotment plot & in one corner of it are two old bathtubs. We'd like to know how to go about creating a wildlife pond with at least one of them.

    Can anyone give any starting points, tips or advice as to how we go about this? Any good websites or sources of info you can point us to? Or better still if you have done this, how did you do it?

    Its not going to be the first thing we tackle but they are already in a shady corner of the plot so I assume this is a good place for the pond to stay?

    We are thinking of digging out the soil and placing it in at soil level. Would it need to be lined with a pond liner? How do we get it started, does it need certain plants? Would you recommend a cage or wire over it to stop anything falling in it?

    Thanks for any advice you can give. As I say its not going to be our first job up there but be nice to start making plans. Thanks.
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  • #2
    Start by putting the plug in ........
    Others I've seen have been sunk in to ground level , not covered but with some logs or rocks to help critturs climb out . There will probably be someone else with a pond who can pass you on some oxygenating plants . Try and just fill it with rainwater not from the tanks on site which are tap water and beg a bucket of water from someone elses pond to start the ecosystem going ......hardest part will be digging the hole for it
    S*d the housework I have a lottie to dig
    a batch of jam is always an act of creation ..Christine Ferber

    You can't beat a bit of garden porn

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    • #3
      Ditto what Binley100 said. Have fun digging the hole.
      Last edited by Dynamo; 05-04-2012, 12:17 AM.

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      • #4
        Must remember the plug!!

        Mr H is "happy" to do the digging and sinking it in (not sure he realises how hard work it will be yet!), we just are a bit clueless what comes next! A bit clueless in general actually!

        I'm going to have to start noseying at other people's plots, will keep an eye out for ones with ponds!!
        Last edited by Helgalush; 05-04-2012, 12:40 AM.

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        • #5
          I had one on my last plot, it worked well for frogs. I had a small lily in it, some pondweed to make it look pretty and give places for tadpoles to hide. A pile of bricks/large pebbles at one end so the froggies could climb out.
          Lots of stacked logs, bricks, pebbles round the outside too, and cover-providing plants like comfrey, foxgloves, whatever. Adult frogs spend their time on the land, hiding in damp places: they only go in the pond to breed or hibernate. Some hibernate in the mud at the bottom of the pond, others hibernate in long grass/hideyholes on land.

          Don't have it in full sun, you'll get algae. Shade can come from buildings or front planting.
          Don't put fish in there, they'll eat the tadpoles.

          I think that's about the extent of my knowledge/advice
          All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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          • #6
            Have a look at my parsnip target thread piccie. Mine is pictured on there. Its on its fourth year now and has matured nicely with frogs and newts in gay abandonment!
            It was an area that had clubroot and whiterot so was efectively a fairly useless area anyway. It was quite easy to dig out.
            At the opposite end to the plughole (mine has no plug, just a clump of clay stuffed into the hole!) I formed a plateau with some of the soil I'd taken out.
            When I got the internal levels set up with deep end. shallow end and really shallow end leading out of the water, I lined the whole lot with with black teram (it was a pink bath if i remember correctly)
            A few rocks and logs placed around it to take away that bathtub shape and hopefully no one is any the wiser!

            Deffo worth doing and a pleasnt area to sit out by in the summer.

            PS Forgot to mention, mines in full sun and it isn't really much of a chore to remove green weed now and again. I also added some water hyacinth that I scrounged from a friends pond (at least i think thats what it is, it has a pretty pink hyacinth flower?) The slug population has diminished once the frogs arrived!!!!!
            Last edited by Snadger; 05-04-2012, 08:40 AM.
            My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
            to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

            Diversify & prosper


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            • #7
              I've cheated a little and used a baby bath

              It's by the side of one of my compost bins so nicely shaded but also a space that I wasn't having much luck growing on...there's also two plum trees and I think they were stealing all the goodness from the other plants.

              I've got a little logpile and plan on sowing lots of wild flowers in the area.
              the fates lead him who will;him who won't they drag.

              Happiness is not having what you want,but wanting what you have.xx

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              • #8
                Thanks for all the ideas and advice, its much appreciated.
                We definitely won't be putting any fish in to it, it will be purely for frogs and any other creatures that might benefit from a bit of water.

                Will we need to cover it with some kind of safety mesh? Although our plots are separated by hawthorn and brambles I know the plotholder next to mine has children, so perhaps it would be wise to be on the safe side.

                Snadger the bathtub pond in your parsnip thread looks great, when I first looked I couldnt see it because I was looking for a bath! Then went back and saw your pond set-up and it looks great, thats the kind of thing we would like to create.

                When putting the bath in, how important is it for it to be level? I was thinking if we had it a slight angle then the shallower end of the bath could be even more shallow than it is, and then put some rocks/stones in that end to make it easier for things to get in and out too.

                Lots of ideas now to get us started on this, thank you very much everyone for all the info. I really like the idea of putting wild flowers around it too.

                I'm quite excited at the thought of having a little pond!

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Helgalush View Post
                  Thanks for all the ideas and advice, its much appreciated.
                  We definitely won't be putting any fish in to it, it will be purely for frogs and any other creatures that might benefit from a bit of water.

                  Will we need to cover it with some kind of safety mesh? Although our plots are separated by hawthorn and brambles I know the plotholder next to mine has children, so perhaps it would be wise to be on the safe side.

                  Snadger the bathtub pond in your parsnip thread looks great, when I first looked I couldnt see it because I was looking for a bath! Then went back and saw your pond set-up and it looks great, thats the kind of thing we would like to create.

                  When putting the bath in, how important is it for it to be level? I was thinking if we had it a slight angle then the shallower end of the bath could be even more shallow than it is, and then put some rocks/stones in that end to make it easier for things to get in and out too.

                  Lots of ideas now to get us started on this, thank you very much everyone for all the info. I really like the idea of putting wild flowers around it too.

                  I'm quite excited at the thought of having a little pond!
                  It needs to be spot on level Helgalush. Use a spirit level to level it up. You can add soil .stones or whatever you like to it once its in situ to form shallows.
                  My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
                  to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

                  Diversify & prosper


                  Comment

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