Make a mini pond
Much excitement at our little house this week, we decided as it was getting a little warmer we would have a go at getting the garden ready for the Spring – We don’t have a massive garden, so it was decided that we would use an old (water tight) washing up bowl, and create a mini pond.
Taking inspiration from the RSPB which is the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, and their hashtag #HomesforNature – we thought it would be a fun way to bring some more unusual creatures right into our back garden… We have our fingers crossed for pond skaters, water lice and freshwater shrimps.
And we are hoping that the little pond will be a haven for birds to enjoy a bath too – then they will of course need a bed for the night, we found a lovely one here.
What you will need
A large container that will hold water (in our case an old washing up bowl)
Some gravel and rocks (we didn’t have any rocks – so we used old sticks!)
Some small pond plants
(we had Hornwort, Iris Veriscolour, and Equisetum Sciripoides)
First we dug a hole…
Deep enough for the washing up bowl – which needs to be placed LEVEL in the ground. There is more about this on the RSPB site here – you need to check it out, as we are only giving you a brief overview here!
Filling the earth to the edge of the bowl…
Then we arranged sticks and stones around the edge…
To hide the edge of the plastic bowl, ideally you would have some rocks, we are going on a mission to the park to find some!
Cover the bottom of the washing up bowl with sand and shingle, and fill with water, rainwater would be good, if not, water from the tap is OK. There is more about this on the RSPB site here – they explain WHY rain water is better!
Then ‘plant’ your small pond plants… If you need more information on what type of plants work best, click here.
Job done!
Aftercare. For more details on ‘after care’ check out the RSPB’s website here…
As our mini garden pond matures, allegedly all of the pond creatures we’ve attracted will help keep the water clear. Topping up from our water butt during the summer will help keep it fresh and alive!