Whether it’s a small pool from which birds, insects and small mammals can drink or a full-on wildlife pond, it will bring huge benefits. The more natural your water, the better (ideally, no fish!), but any water is better than none.
We’ve written this article to try and convince you that your garden needs a pond. Not just for the wildlife, but for you too!
From amphibians such as frogs and newts to aquatic insects, garden birds, mammals and flying insects. They will become the most biodiverse part of your garden, and quickly, too. Usually, within a few weeks of creation, ponds will have visitors, drinking from them and building homes.
Many creatures, including bees, birds and hedgehogs, will use ponds to drink from, perching on lily pads, rocks, pebbles or other plants in the water. But the water isn’t just needed for drinking. Birds will bathe in the water, helping them to keep clean all year round and to regulate their temperature in the hotter months. Honey bees collect water to cool their hives in the summer and control the humidity. They also use it to create the food they feed young bees in the hives.
Encouraging newts, frogs and toads into your garden is an excellent idea… and they will undoubtedly be very encouraged by the presence of a pond! All three of these creatures will eat slugs and snails, helping to keep population sizes under control and prevent too much damage to your vegetable patch or flowers. These three creatures need water to reproduce, all laying their eggs/spawn in the water (newts lay their eggs on the leaves of water plants and then fold them over, whereas frogs and toads lay spawn).
Frogs will hibernate in ponds over winter, buried in mud at the bottom of ponds (they take in oxygen through their skin, so oxygenating plants in the pond are a must).
Ponds are full of life and bring so much wildlife and increased biodiversity to your garden, but they are not just good for nature. The benefits of being near water for us humans are proven, too. It is calming, lowers our blood pressure and improves our mental health.
Creating a spot to sit near your pond will allow you to observe all of the wildlife as it uses the water and to watch the reflections and ripples.
Children absolutely love exploring ponds – watching the wildlife come and go or peeking under rocks to see what they can find fuels their love of nature and appreciation of the outdoor world. The ultimate screen-free fun!
On top of this, ponds look beautiful too and can be a focal point if you want them to be, or work equally well as a discreet, secluded feature. There is a pond for every garden, and size doesn’t matter –any water is a huge bonus! If you have a petite plot, you could consider adding a container pond using a small barrel or bucket or even an old butler’s sink –all these options work brilliantly in paved gardens or courtyards, or they can be dug into the ground and lined if necessary.
If you have more space, consider creating a larger pond surrounded by beneficial plants and habitats for you and the wildlife to enjoy.
We hope we have convinced you of the enormous benefits of having a wildlife pond in your garden. We will also create articles on how to site and prepare your pond –keep an eye out for that and let us know if you have any particular questions, and we will try our best to cover them in another article.
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