Making a wildlife corner

[Plot70]

When I took on my plot in December there was an old bathtub partily sunk into the ground into the ground where the bed rock had caused the failure of a previous attempt to make a pond.
That was no barrier to me and I duly tore up the rock and got it to the right level and had to fix an air rifle pellet hole to boot.
I did not get it quite ready for the frog spawn but we did get enough rain to fill it up from the water butt overflow.
In April the first frog arrived to chill off in a period of dry weather and by May there were two frogs.
I had by then started planting out the area with an iris that was donated by another plot holder and a root cutting from a fern that I watched growing from mystery a seedling a few years ago keeping last years foliage to allow wild animals two alternatives to the man made ladder I have provided. I will keep an eye out for more nice wild plants to further populate the area.
In April I seeded the water with the dregs of my old emergency rain water tank for my back garden blueberry bed as I needed the tank on the plot so if we have a drought now I will have to cart the water home from the big tank on the plot. The water is nice and green now just how the frogs like it.

[Plot70]

The other two photos.

[mothhawk]

Looking good, P70. Some bricks or stones in one end might be a good idea so the frogs can get out of the pond when they want, and also any other creatures that may fall in by mistake.

[Plot70]

I have run a generous wavy line of silicone rubber up the non tap end as a man made ladder. New fern fronds are growing ready to replace the old ones as they erode away. The iris is also beginning to show signs of replenishing its foliage too.

[Nicos]

It looks great but I too would put logs and or stones in too -hedgehogs are shortsighted amd heavy and easily fall into ponds and I think they'd need something a bit more substantial to grab hold of to climb out?
When we had a pond in our previous house one frog used to enjoy sitting on a stone just above the waterline but hidden under foliage. I'd forgotten about that...nice memory!

[Plot70]

The frogs are definitely entering and leaving freely. They are never in there when the ground foliage is damp.
I will have a look for a water plant that is in a big enough pot that will provide another climbing out point.

[Nicos]

I'd love to see a piccie of it later on in the year?
we made something similar in our first allotment site.
Wish we'd taken a piccie of it now but it was 30 years ago and didnt really think about it.
We found a corner bath at the tip and took it to the site.
The first year we had newts and frogs -very, very rewarding! Particularly as our children were young and fascinated by the wildlife in it.
And yes, we fenced it off to stop other children on the site from accidentally accessing it

[nickdub]

The one thing I have to add, being a long time proponent of small ponds for wildlife, is be careful about which plants you introduce. I added some native yellow iris to mine a few years ago. I knew they were invasive but I underestimated the problem - so I think I may have to try to get rid of them again as keeping them in check is quite a lot of work.

[Plot70]

I will indeed add photos as the surrounding area gets populated with various plants. I was given an iris but I have planted it in the ground at the side. The fern has taken well and the fronds are a foot high with more to unroll. It is one of three growing tips from the fern in the link.

I am pretty sure the original will soon fill the space I made by cutting off a third of the root stock quickly.
I have added one or two lumps of clay that have fluffy moss on them and hope that it will spread over the edges and hang into the water.

[Plot70]

Yesterday while weeding I found a toad and had to move it for its own safety. I took it to the pond and put it at the bottom of the man made ladder at the sloping end of my pond and it quickly found out how to climb out. I then moved it to the base of the iris plant where there is a gap that leads into the rim of the old bath I have used as a pond liner so that it can hide there.