Ponds are teeming with life, supporting everything from mammals and amphibians to plants and invertebrates. Sadly, 50% of the UK’s ponds were lost in 20th century due to human development, so it is incredibly important that we work to protect the ponds that already exist and even create more where we can.

In the Autumn of 2016, as the trees were getting ready to lose their leaves and welcome in winter, we undertook extensive work to renovate an overgrown pond on site at Knowsley which sits at the start of our Wild Trail. Half pond, half bog garden, the project aimed to create a habitat for a diverse array of species and an area where our Learning and Discovery team could educate children about the importance of pond life and help them see what they could find. Three years later, the pond is flourishing; home to an array of freshwater species and a valuable educational resource. Regular surveys help us keep track of what species are using this, and lots of other ponds on site.

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Creating your own pond life habitat

If you would like to create a pond habitat in your own garden follow our easy tips below:

 

Position – if you want some plants in your pond, pick somewhere in your garden that gets early sun (it is a little better for them)

  • If you have a big space, you can dig a big hole and either leave it natural, line it, or purchase a dedicated preformed plastic pond

  • Not a lot of space? Even a bucket or a big bowl will make a difference

Next steps:

  • It is important that you have different levels for animals such as frogs and newts to get in and out of the pond. Pop in some stones, bricks, plant pots, anything that they can use!

  • Everyone loves plants, you can get some water lilies, hornwort, marsh marigold, yellow iris which will add a lot of interest to your pond, flying insects can land on them and make your pond a wildlife oasis. Just make sure you pond overcrowd your pond.

Final steps:

  • Once you have everything in place, you can either let it grow naturally or add some water to it then once your pond is full, see what wildlife moves in!

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