New Pond.

[dogsbody]

8m x 9m is hardly small, I trust you will be at least 1m deep. Use natural plants and the wildlife will come, don't forget to make provision for them and the odd lost hedgehog to be able to safely get out. There are some fish that will co-habit with wildlife IF the pond / lake is big enough, bottom feeders might work, but truly wildlife then leave it and see what comes....

[Darwin.]

That's a lot of info to digest, good info though, I'm delighted to get the advice.

It should be about 1.5m deep and I'll be leaving a few sloped areas for things to get in/out of it.

I have a good few big logs for an insect garden and I was thinking of putting the fattest, fairly short one, standing upright in the centre of the pond. Not really sure what good this will do me but I figured something might sit or land on it.

[SarzWix]

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ase_37990.html

[Two_Sheds]

I'll be leaving a few sloped areas for things to get in/out of it.

Not sloped: you need to have shelves (for different plants, that like to be at different depths), and then very shallow edges for the little critters.

If you're mixing tadpoles and newts, you might want to create little areas for the taddies, or it'll be carnage
This was my carnage: tadpoles, first day of freedom - YouTube

I felt so bad

[Darwin.]

I've never seen a newt so I doubt I'll have any. I'll make sure I have tadpoles because I know where there are some every year, I'll just go fetch some. Once there are plants in the pool they should survive shouldn't they?

[Verinda]

I suppose I should let you know that you're not allowed to move frogspawn, although I'm sure no one would notice!

Tadpoles are survivors, they'll love your pond! Newts can just turn up, you may be surprised!

[julesapple]

We've got so much spawn, and they're still laying. I think the majority of it becomes fish food. Although the tadders do like to hide in the Forget-Me-Nots with the fry.



I had been planning to haul a lot of FMNots out of the pond, as it's taking over, but it'll have to stand nursery duty first now the frogs are there. They're a little earlier this year.

[Darwin.]

That's a nice picture, I'll be happy enough if my pond ends up looking like that.

I had no idea you weren't allowed to move frogs spawn, has that been the case for long? We always did as kids but that was in the 80s. Is it for protection reasons?

[roitelet]

I made a pond about 10 years ago. Fed with rainwater from the roof and the overflow just seeps into the ground. Lots of oxygenating plants and water lilies for shade. Wild life found it in a couple of weeks and now there are loads of creatures in there. It has never become stagnant or smelly.

Shelves for the marginal plants and deep in the middle with wildlife 'ladders' round the edge in some places so the frogs and toads and other things can get out.

[Two_Sheds]

I had no idea you weren't allowed to move frogs spawn,

It's to prevent the spread of "red leg" disease, etc

Pond Conservation | Amphibians and reptiles in your pond | Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

[Two_Sheds]

I've never seen a newt so I doubt I'll have any.

They mostly live under deep leaf litter, so you probably won't see them even if they are there

[dogsbody]

I hadn't seen newts, frogs or dragonflies before I made my pond, but within a year I had all 3 and they all arrived without human assistance.

[Verinda]

I'm just wondering if you've made a plan or a drawing of your pond? Having dug three ponds myself I did a drawing each time and still didn't get it quite right. You need beach type areas for the birds bathing and for animals to get in and out, then deeper shelving for plants and deeper still for water lillies and for frogs to hibernate.

There's more to this pond digging business than meets the eye!

[Darwin.]

All I had really thought of was renting a digger for a few days to do the drainage and dig the pond. I hadn't planned out a lot after that, just that I'd have a gradual slope at one end and have the rest just a straight drop.

[Two_Sheds]

... and have the rest just a straight drop.

That will drown an awful lot of wee creatures, like dozy hedgehogs. They'll fall in and drown before they manage to find the other, sloping, end (if they could even swim to the other side, which is improbable)