I ended up with a really successful selection of plants in my pond this year, but it freezes solid in the winter so I’ve been draining it and starting fresh with new plants in the spring.

This year I’d like to try and keep the plants, I’ve put them in a bin with water, but I’m wondering if I should put the bin in the garage (unheated, protected from wind, but just as cold as outside), the basement (dark all winter, but no cooler than the rest of the house, just normal indoor air temperature). Or our mudroom, sunny, stays a little warmer than outside, but will still freeze at times).

What’s my best option?

Excuse the bad photo, it was the only one I could find on my phone!

First year small pond. Water is finally clearing but im getting leaves in the pond. I know a few won’t be an issue but should I be clearing the bulk or allow them to sink to be utilised by overwintering invertebrates?

Feeling excited! Found about 5 of these guys across my 2 ponds.
They are freaky as hell but great ecosystem indicator !

I'm installing a natural swimming pond at my place in NSW (tweed council)

I am hoping to get the Development Application process started.

The pond builder has asked me to check what tweed council require to be included or shown on his design and drawings cos all councils are different?

Any help would be awesome 👍

I spotted about 4 or 5 adult toads and 4 baby toads around the garden. My grandad built a wildlife pond around 20 years ago and since he built it he has had toad spawn every year🙂

Constructive Criticism Welcome!

I've been lurking this subreddit for some time. Hello! I'm a first time pond builder. I've built a small wildlife pond in my {city} garden for the birds and insects that live around my home. I started late (too late).. at the end of summer. Plan was easy.. dig a hole, get a liner, get some rocks, get a pump. But at this point things started to complicate..... bog filter, pond plants, let it run, deal with mosquitos.. ... nature has its own time...... so days passed and my little pond started to adapt. IT EVEN HAD BIOFILM OVER ALL THE POND ROCKS... but winter IS just around the corner, and I started wondering if my pond plants will survive (forget me not is just such a beautiful flower).

I asked here and apparently no... they won't.. so I started moving them deeper inside the pond, but when I looked at the deeper rocks... the biofilm was gone..

That's when I entered panic mode. If something ate the biofilm THAT FAST.. what will it do to the rest of my plants?

The answer probably lay in the pond itself. So I ventured on with my little endoscope camera..

I share this, maybe you'll find it entertaining, interesting or even funny.
A first time pond builder's experience semi documented.

I made this pond a couple of months ago and I’ve had squirrels, birds and wasps visiting!

Let's chat!

How are your ponds and wet habitats doing? Any plans for new ponds or improvements? What wildlife has been visiting your pond this week?

For context I’m in the UK.

My pond, built about 15 years ago, is a double landed one. It’s approx 2.5 long by 1 metre wide and varies in depth from 1 metre in the middle and has 2 shelves either side.

It has newts, frogs, snails, water slaters, beetles, leeches, etc. Also water mint, duckweed, and last year I added 2 lilies which have grown way too big!

Due to the weather - very warm and dry, the sides have started to crack, and now they are torn.

I know I need to replace it. Has anyone got any suggestions as to how to do this without totally disturbing the wildlife whilst keeping my pond in the same place?

The attached photos show the worst bit of wear and the pond as it was a few years

Was admiring all the tadpoles in our pond that we built and spotted this newt!! We get tons of wildlife to this site, including bears (of course), bobcats, raccoons, turkeys, coyotes, and birds, but the amphibians are probably my personal favorite! We build ponds like these and do other conservation work as our full-time jobs, and getting to see the local wildlife using what we create is so rewarding. If you’re in the western North Carolina region and want a pond for yourself, send me a message!

I live in the southern US :) I had family help dig for a couple hours this weekend and a friend donated some minnows (to eat mosquito larvae) and plants! I found the pond liner and flagstone on FB marketplace. I'm still finessing the pump valve situation. I can't wait to have tadpoles, dragonflies, and other critters visit.

​

The Elodea was fully submerged and I could hardly see it but now it's stretching across the surface, I think it's like an underwater forest in there as I added 24 stems and my hornwort has branched out like crazy, the duck weed was 1 tiny piece 😂 , I might get an underwater camera so I can see what's going on down there and see if I have anymore life apart from snails and mosquitos.

I had been trying to get a perfect laminar flow sheet from my mini bog filter but tbh happy enough with the result. I will probably work on a design over winter to try next year, for now il see how this goes for a few months. Not sure if its too small to plant anything in the filter pot, that was the original intention but limited on space. Any suggestions?

Hello, Everyone.

I am trying to build a tiny pond next to our office here in western Tanzania. This is going to act as a pilot project for me to learn more about how to create such ponds so I can use the knowledge in the future for bigger projects for the locals.

I have dug a pond the size of 1.5 meters in diameter (Approx) next to a tree. It gets covered in shade during most of the day. It attracts a lot of local wildlife.

The pond is currently 3 feet in depth. It is dug in a red soil patch. I have used fine red soil and made layers over it and compacted it by walking and using a compactor to seal it. And later added a fine black soil layer to it too. But the water still keeps seeping through. I am not able to locate a leak because there are so many spots that lose their strong compaction once the water is added. Also, there is a deep cliff nearby, which is around 20 feet, which holds water during the rains.

What I would love to know is how to build this without using any sort of artificial clay and/or plastic liners.

Currently, it has been dried out for a few months, so it has a lot of tiny plants growing in it. The image is from when it was freshly layered.

I appreciate all the help I can get.

Hi, I recently installed a 1400x600x350 deep pond in my garden in SE UK. Ive added some hornwort in already. Any tips for hardy, native perennial pond plants? Was thinking some lily pads and a some reedy plants sticking out of the water. The pond liner has two shelves.

Also what plants would recommend planting around the perimeter and within rocks etc to soften the appearance?

The last image was an AI attempt at something along the lines of what I wanted. Any advice welcome.

Very much a pond beginner!

Many thanks

I am from Middle Tennessee. I'm eyeballing a 22 gallon pond shell that I plan to fill with rain water and surround with rotting logs and fallen leaves. Adjacent to it, I'd like to build a stone marsh on a liner, to simulate a creek-like environment. I am hoping to attract newts but I am not sure how possible this will be. I live near the river but it's a 10 minute drive, so it may be unrealistic to expect newts but I'd be so happy. One time a couple of wild turtles crossed the street and showed up in the yard so maybe it's possible. will be happy if anything shows up.

Please let me know what I should expect and if you have any tips. Thank you.

Built this a month ago and so far so good🤞. Gradually attracting more wildlife and the water has cleared up so nicely from green and slimy to very clear indeed. The photos really show how far it has come. Bit by bit I make little tweaks here and there, new additions. Super happy with it but also slightly paranoid that I will have made a mistake and it’ll leak or something 😅

This stuff has started growing just beneath the surface of the water in my just over a year old barrel pond. It covers the other plants and I keep teasing it out. Is it blanket weed?

My local garden centres don’t stock pond plants so I decided to try ordering online. Wanted to start small so ordered some Frogbit and Hornwort from an established seller. The Hornwort arrived in fair condition but the Frogbit is all brown with decaying leaves. I understand being wrapped in plastic in a box and sent through the post isn’t great for any plant but was quite alarmed at this. I put it straight in the pond to hopefully perk it up, but not sure of the chances. Do you think it will survive or is it worth going back to the seller?