Wildlife Pond

Carole
by Carole
8 Materials
$450
2 Weeks
Medium

We decided to create a wildlife pond in our backyard. Hoping to attract frogs and dragonflies and provide water for wildlife.

First we had to dig out the soil. We decided to go with a PVC pond liner rather than a rigid pond liner. We dug out the area which we had to ensure was level. We are on a slight slope so this was the worst part of the project. We decided to make a beach area with stones for entry/exit into the water for smaller creatures. The deepest area is around 50cm in order for tadpoles to overwinter in the pond without freezing to death.

We built ledges into the soil rather than have a slope into the lowest point of the pond. This way we could put rocks or marginal water plants on those ledges.

Once we were happy with the shape, depth and ledges, we lined the whole thing with old mattress protectors, blankets and block out curtains. This is to protect the PVC pond liner from any stones or roots that might pierce the plastic. You could use a couple of cms of sand instead or some geotextile fabric before adding the liner.

Then the pond liner went in on top. I climbed in with bare feet and moulded the plastic to fit the ledges as well as I could. At this point, you cannot avoid some creases in the pond liner. Just push it into the ledges as best you can.

We put some weighty items around the edges to hold the plastic in place while we added the water. This was rainwater from our water tanks. We used a garden hose to fill the pond.

You will see there is quite a bit of pond liner on the outside of the pond. This gets covered by rocks, stones and in this case some pavers as well. Once you have everything in place, remembering to leave a 'beach' area which is shallow for creatures to get in and out of the pond easily, you can them trim the liner. We added pavers at the front edge, some water plants in aqua baskets and two troughs of Dietes on the far ledge inside the pond. We put tiles under the two troughs so that they were not sitting in the water. Dietes doesn't like standing in water. We added some sand to the bottom of the pond (washed children's play sand) to cover the bottom of the pond/liner.

We added bush rock at one end to cover the liner, a solar water fountain and a water lily. Logs and bromeliads finished the look. A zen like frog sits at the front of the pond. Sunlight can damage a pond liner, so you need to ensure to completely cover the liner to avoid the plastic cracking and splitting due to sun damage and also because if the black plastic shows, it looks a bit ugly.

A large Cordyline plant in a pot sits behind the pond to add height and a pot of Lomandra sits on the front corner of the pond. Most of the bush rock was sourced from our own garden. The water plants used here are Pennyroyal and Milfoil. The liner was trimmed back once complete. I have also planted up some native violets around the edges of the pond, which I hope will fill in and spread to provide cover for frogs.

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3 of 8 questions
  • Banrman Banrman on Jan 13, 2021

    Don't tadpoles turn into frogs long before winter even starts?

  • Lisa West Lisa West on Jan 17, 2021

    The animals are going to love you so much. As for skeeter and the eggs as long as the water is moving they won't lay eggs. So fountain will deter that. When all your plants fill out its going to be a very pretty and natural little oasis there in your back yard. Love it. Please if you can get some pics of all the animals that come by and take a drink and possibly nap, and share those. Even butter flies and other insects. The birds will be happy to I believe. Oh and if you can plant some butterfly flowers to attract them as well. Oh the dragon flies I can see in the future. Those also eat skeeter and other yucky insects and the all hated spiders. Speaking of spiders aren't you afraid of the funnel spider or what that poisonous mean spider that just bites every thing for no reason taking up residence near the pond?

  • Susan Susan on Jun 18, 2023

    What about mosquitoes?

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  • Stephanie Morris Stephanie Morris on Jan 07, 2023

    I have not had good luck with solar fountains.. the filter gets clogged about 3 times a day then no fountain. Our water is full of iron and sulfur and even though the livestock and wildlife don’t seem to be effected it makes for an ugly pond. I would so love a pond with some fish… even just a wildlife pond is so good during summer droughts.

    • Bird Bird on Dec 29, 2023

      I have a pre-fab pond with running water and also a separate fountain with running water. They are not solar but some of the smaller ornamental fountains I have do get clogged. I use filter pads that are used for pond pumps and wrap them around the whole bottom of the pump (where the water is sucked into the fountain). I use an elastic band or hair tie to attach it to the pump, what ever works best. Then I know instead of the pumps going dead on me, they will last many days without clogging, some for at least a week or longer. The filters last a long time, all you have to do is rinse them out. For me this does not affect the water flow at all & works great. Might want to give it a try. I have all electric pumps so I am not sure if you will get the same results. I have had my pond and fountains for many years and like most people I want nice clean water and don't want to be cleaning filters everyday, You can get the filters at Lowes or Homedepot. :)

  • Karen Rockow Karen Rockow on Jan 07, 2023

    Interesting and a lot of work! I hope that the milfoil you introduced isn't Eurasian milfoil, which is a terrible invasive that we're fighting here on our Vermont lake.

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    • Carole Carole on Jun 18, 2023

      BTW, we are in Australia, not the U.S so what is a weed in some places is fine in others or even native to the area.

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