Old bath

[Kaytee999]

Got an old fibre-glass/acrylic bath from a skip, and a large plastic dog-bed (I did get permission!). I hoped both could be used as wildlife ponds, but the dog-bed had loads of ventilation holes in (it's now a raised bed for herbs - or that's the plan). For the bath I've filled in a couple of cracks and the plughole etc, so the next step will be digging a lovely big hole! I do have a few thoughts that I'd like some feedback on.

First, it's a bright white, I'd prefer something a little more natural/muted - would lining it with some landscape fabric work, or could I paint it (would that leach into the water?), and if so what would be suitable?

Second, I know I need to provide a route for ingress/egress (posh words), but to try and keep as much volume of water I was wondering if I could accomplish this by some sort of 'suspended' platform(s), I think if I filled one end with enough rocks/bricks to reach the top, a significant volume of water would be lost. So maybe some form of suspended platforms might provide an answer? I thought a log or two across, and from those with steel cable/angle iron etc suspend some (holey!) plastic trays with small rocks/gravel/planted pots on, that would keep the water volume up, provide shade and provide a route in/out. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

P.S. I'm an inveterate planner/procrastinater, so don't expect pics in the next few weeks!

Thanks

[arpoet]

Hi Kaytee99 and welcome to the madhouse.
I would dig a hole, drop the bath in and drape some sort of liner in it to break up the white.
Roger
ps. where are you?

[Bren In Pots]

Hello and welcome to the vine Kaytee have a read at this older thread it might give you some ideas :-

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tub_64264.html

[Knight of Albion]

A good idea. We need more ponds - and making practical use of now unwanted materials/items is good too.
I think the stepped method is best. You'll have visitors, both happy swimmers and those who've tumbled in by accident! Things tend to panic in those situations, so I think having a 'solid mass' they can readily climb up on and out is best.
You would lose some volume of water, yes, but there'd still be plenty of room left and all things considered it is the best way. You wouldn't want to come out in the morning and find something 'floating' would you. Water depth can be very deceptive, so we all need to be mindful in such matters.

[taff]

I'd stick some big rocks in the bottom on one side and put some smaller ones on top of that for bigger things to perch on.
You can spray with enamel paint , a beige or something, or if you can find some mosaic tiles, grout/stick/drape them over the edges.

[Kaytee999]

Thanks for the links and tips, Taff - the idea of the mosaic tiles has my creative juices flowing, but I will undoubtedly need to reign those thoughts in, in my mind I've created a pool from the Alhambra Palace!

I'm in Wirral, that's the little peninsula bounded by the Mersey on the east, the Dee on the west and the Irish Sea to the north.

[PyreneesPlot]

Hello and welcome.

If you can bury the bath, do try to, or at least get the sides shaded. We had a tin bath which just heated up too much in the summer and we'd lose some of the wildlife that had established. Acrylic won't be so bad, I guess.

[Martin H]

Good growing weather on the Wirral. I grew up in Bromborough and still have family over there.

You will need some shading or the pool will get very hot in the summer and cook the inhabitants.

My own pool is only the size of a small bath, but I've put it in a partly shady spot to help cut down evaporation (and re-filling) and also to slow down the algae. I've got three small goldfish in there to keep the local midges under control a bit.

[Kaytee999]

Bath Update

Hi All - just a quick update on my old bath pond. I've now got it pretty much sunk in to ground-level - which was a fair bit easier than I anticipated with a mattock and spade. Found a few cracks and holes in it, which I sealed up with silicon covered with patches cut out of plastic bottles (the curves seemed to fit in nicely) glued in place with healthy globs of exterior 'hard as nails'. The plug-hole and drainage hole were similarly filled up. Put up some fencing around it (1.1m high as recommended by ROSPA - just in case there are some inquisitive kiddiwinks on the site), and pretty much left it for a few weeks to 'cure' and start to fill up naturally, with a couple of planks in there to assist the escape of anything stumbling in.

After some recent rain it's just under a quarter full, so my daughter (she's sixteen before anybody starts worrying about the appropriateness of leaving this to a minor, or the child labour laws!), has lined it with some black landscape fabric held in place with rocks, and she has started to clear the fenced in area around it of grass (mostly horribly matted couch grass) ready to sow with some wildflowers in early autumn.

Can anybody recommend some (preferably native) aquatic plants to put in to aid the ecosystem, and should I worry about midge larvae? I know I could put a couple of fish in to control these, but the intention is for this to support/encourage amphibians and natural invertebrates, which I'm led to understand will probably be compromised by the presence of fish?