Make your own mini pond and provide a haven for wildlife in your garden

Adding a water source is one of the best ways to attract wildlife to your setting. Not only will it provide a home for a number of different species, such as frogs, newts, and dragonflies, but also offers a watering hole and a source of food for hedgehogs, bats, birds, and insects. A water source doesn’t need to be big or deep to have benefits for wildlife, an old washing up bowl will do.

What you will need:

• A water tight container *
• Stones, bricks, sand, gravel or logs
• Pond plants **
• Spade
• Rain water

* A water tight container can be anything from an old washing up bowl, a bucket or a purpose built rigid pond liner. If you have a container that is broken or isn’t completely water tight, you can always use some pond liner to fix it. 

** Plants are an essential part of any pond! If you leave it long enough, a pond will often stock itself with plants, but most ponds could do with a helping hand. It is key to introduce a variety of native plants, with a mix of submerged, floating and emergent (on the edge of the pond) plants which will each attract different kinds of inhabitants. You can get pond plants from most garden centres or from other ponds – make sure not too take them from the wild. You can find a list of pond plants that you can plant here.

Instructions:

• The first thing to do is choose a quiet site, that is relatively sheltered, but still gets some sunlight. 
• When building your pond, you can either dig a hole and sink your container into the ground, or you can just place it on top of the ground. 
• Next you need to add gravel, rocks or a few logs to your pond. This will allow pond inhabitants to find shelter, as well as to get in and out of the pond. 
• After you have added rocks or logs, it is time to fill your pond up. It is important that you fill your pond up with rain water and avoid using tap water. This is because tap water has added nutrients and chlorine which can be damaging for wildlife. 
• Finally, it is time to add your pond plants. By adding plants you will help to attract lots of different wildlife to your pond by providing food and shelter and helping oxygenate the water.
• Make sure to put the necessary safety precautions in place, to ensure that children/ pets are safe around your mini pond.