Water Gardening

There are so many things I love about my garden here in the South East of England.  It is tiny, what we Brits lovingly refer to as 'postage stamped sized', but, I've managed to pack in a huge amount of plants and features.

I always knew I wanted wildlife to play a big part in the garden, so I started by adding a half barrel pond, as water is fantastic for attracting a myriad of creatures.  Within a year, the barrel had become home to several frogs, a newt and water snails.  It also attracted dragonflies, butterflies and some stag beetles, which I was thrilled about, as they are now rare in Britain due to their loss of habitat.

Excited by the success of this pond, I decided on adding more water to the garden.  Funds were too limited to afford another barrel, so I took 3 medium sized plastic plant pots, arranged them together and sunk them into the ground.  Simply lined with plastic sheeting and filled with water and plants, they too have become home to more frogs and water insects.  As they are shallower than the larger pond, they are also used as a watering hole by our resident foxes and birds.

I would encourage all gardeners to make water a large feature of their space.  As I've proved with my plastic plant pot ponds, it need not cost a lot of money and there is huge joy to be had in sitting back and watching all the wonderful wildlife that comes to visit!

Tags

wildlife, water, ponds, frog, newt, tadpoles, stag beetles