How Deep Should Your POND Be?
Vložit
- čas přidán 24. 06. 2024
- Ponds - In this video we look at the ideal depths for a wildlife pond and how to achieve this.
Thank you for watching and don't forget to SUBSCRIBE and turn ON the notification "bell" to get the latest video updates.
To find out more about how you can help wildlife, what I do to help wildlife and to follow my work, please see the following:
To find a vast array of wildflowers, pond liners, birdfood, habitats and more, please see what we do here:
wildyourgarden.com/
Wild Your Garden - "Create a sanctuary for nature" - My latest book on how you can help wildlife in your own garden and how to install all the habitats that your local wildlife will need to thrive. Complete how to's and step by step guides. Buy your copy online here:
wildyourgarden.com/product/wi...
Hazelwood Landscapes - Where you will find photographs and case studies of some of the projects I have undertaken over the last 16 years and how you can enquire if you would like any advice / help with your own garden:
www.hazelwoodlandscapes.com
Twitter:
@_joelashton
/ _joelashton
Instagram:
@_joelashton
TikTok:
@_joelashton
For consultations, talks, television enquiries, design workshops, landscaping enquiries, film making and book enquiries, please visit:
www.joelashton.com
Finally, please subscribe to the channel to help me raise awareness about the importance of helping wildlife in your own gardens and green spaces and to get notified when I upload the latest videos.
Thank you for watching and if you have any suggestions for future videos, please comment on the video or get in touch via one of the platforms above.
Many thanks,
Joel Ashton
#Pond #GardenPond #Wildlifepond #MakeAPond #MiniPond #Fishpond #Makingapond #WildlifeGardening #SmallPondIdeas #HowToMakeAWildlifePond #GardenIdeas #Landscaping #SmallPond #SmallWildlifePond #Buildingapond #DIYPond #BackYardPond #BackGardenPond #FormalPond #PondAdvice #Fishpond #Wildlife #Gardening #GardenDesign #WildlifeGarden #PondPlants #WildPond #PlantsForPond #DigAPond #ProjectPond #Timelapse - Jak na to + styl
At work we rescue around 60-80 frogs and toads every February and March, which have fallen into the drains at the side of the road and can’t escape. I hate to think how many poor frogs meet this fate over the uk :( But at least we help some :)
Wow - great work from you and your colleagues Sam, what a fantastic thing to do. Yes, I wonder too about this, I did read that some groups were adding "frog ladders" to drains as it's such a high death toll through this - thanks for doing what you do, admirable :) Best wishes, Joel
You rock, poor frogs!
It's 2:00 pm in Salem, Alabama, USA. April 6, 2024.. Joel, thank you for your information. I thought you might like to know about a product we bought for our in-ground swimming pool a few years ago since you mentioned that unfortunately small wildlife drown in pools. It is called FROGGY ISLANDs. They give a foot hold to those who can't climb out. We ordered them on line and I have seen them in action and they work!
Hi there Kathy, fantastic to hear this and thank you for thinking of them, when in the US a few years ago I remember seeing the FrogLogs which were like a ramp to allow exit from the pool too. Thanks so much for thinking of the wildlife, not sure if it's because we don't have a huge number of swimming pools in this country (no doubt due to our not so lovely weather!) but I've never seen either for sale here. Very best wishes, and thanks again - Joel
I find one huge advantage of a deep area within the pond is that it still leaves an area of free water, even when the inevitable silt fills most parts of the area, in fact I think that the silt represents a great hazard to people than the water, having got stuck in 3 ft of thick silt , and found it very difficult to get out, I can see that anyone given to panic would go down ever deeper in the silt, as it happened all I lost were my boots. It can go down to -20 for a few days running here, so a deep area is a good thing to have, as well as staying "cool" in the 45 deg summer temperature. Stay safe! Chris B.
Great tips as always, Joel👍. My pond is too small to be that deep so I have a water pump with a sponge filter to keep the water circulating and oxygenated for the fish in there especially during our tropical sultry summers. I will upload a short video shortly before doing a longer video later. Have a great weekend!
I love Newts!!!! Would love to create a fun little game for them! 😍 How exciting!
Can't wait to create a pond! Gonna check out your video about it
Hi there - sorry for the delay - have been in Scotland for a week, making more videos and being awe-struck by the fabulous scenery and untouched areas. If you ever get a chance.... ;) Best wishes and good luck with the pond, there is a 3 part series on the channel on how to make a pond but you may have seen it already. Thanks for your support, Joel
Great knowledge drop as always Joel. My pond plants are now growing at a surprising rate, it's amazing what a bit of sun and water can achieve. I even saw a damsel dragon fly scooting around the other day, so hopefully it'll put the word out there is a new water body in town! Good luck with your new projects 👍
Hello! Sorry for the absence etc - I've been making so many videos on different sites and then have no chance to upload them - trying to work out which ones are most relevant for you guys - you might have seen the latest video with the broad bodied chaser on the dragonfly perch - but that's fantastic that you've got visitors already - it's so rewarding isn't it? Hope you're doing ok - best wishes as always, Joel
What a very interesting video as always :)
Great info Joel can't wait to see the update on the pond ... I used some of your info in my pond build .. iv put up a new update.. 👍 hope all is well 👊
Hey you! Just watched it while having a quick bite for lunch - sorry it's taken a while to respond - but that's brilliant, you've worked it out well and there's so much hard work gone into it, great work :) Thanks, as always, for your support - all good this side, just seems to be less and less time these days! Take care - Joel
Really interesting stuff with presentation to match. 🌟
Would love to get stuck into that pond Joel's, I don't mean literally 😁.
I miss having a pond since I moved home. I've often considered it but having a much smaller garden.... its a choice between pond and greenhouse. Choices choices... keep up the good work Joel's and love to you and yours. 🙂
Hey there - finally trying to catch up with everyone over lunch :) I know what you mean, I'm contemplating making a bigger pond in the garden and decreasing the meadow size, a difficult decision. But hey, if you're growing pollinating plants in the greenhouse it's still good for nature :) All the best to you and yours too - stay safe - Joel
👍thanks for sharing
Thank you for your support :) Best wishes, Joel
I had a stickleback in a solid-frozen tub, was fine when the wate thawed
Nice one, Joel.
Thank you Mark :)
Very interesting 😊
Hope it helped and that you're enjoying the channel Janie - thank you - Joel
Great video ! Did you do a video about the pond in this video ?
Thanks Joel lots of information again and they’re going to have a fantastic pond there. I know my pond is too small but is deep in the centre I’d love to make it bigger but solitary bees do nest around the pond so I’m concerned I’d damage the nest sites. Unsure what to do. It’s very attractive to frogs and hoverflies but not had dragonfly or damselfly activity which visit the garden occasionally. Thanks for the mention too.
I really really REALLY need to get some time to come and see you, so I can help with what to do re the solitary bees etc - I am doing my best to get to you real soon but client works all over at the moment and I'm never quite close enough! Deep in the centre is good and remember that it doesn't matter on the size, it's all attractive to wildlife and such a great source, however small :) Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Whenever you can get here is fine we’re going nowhere and my husband is a stickler for records sure we can help when ever you manage to visit.
Joel your a legend, thanks for all the tips, building our first 2 by 3 :)
Great vid Joel... Have watched most of your pond vids now... I have dug a big pond this is not my first.. I really want to do the natural style... Is it OK to use a very sandy clay to backfill
Hi Paul - the key is to use soil that is LOW nutrient, ie subsoil and the sandy clay sounds ideal for this, it will hold together well but also be not too "claggy" for planting. So glad the channel is proving helpful - if you need liner, plants or anything related then we have everything available at www.wildyourgarden.com and we're happy to provide free advice if you get stuck at all. Keep in touch and I'd love to see some photos when you're done :) Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton thanks for your help. Joel.. Wheres the best place to get stone from... Going to need 2 ton I reckon... Thanks
Playing catch up on videos today!! Lots of info in this one! I've got one big question on the wildlife ponds... is there a way to control mosquitos?? They can get awful around here....
Hello! Me and you both are playing catch up! Sorry for the delay in responding. Mosquitoes... unfortunately there are electronic Bug Zappers that claim they use no chemicals etc and can help when camping/out in the garden, but I don't think for a minute that they'd kill mosquitoes alone, and would affect other insects too. The way it's combatted in my gardens is of course by attracting birds, larger insects, amphibians and of course bats - not sure if you have seen bats around but you could certainly encourage them with a few bat boxes - I've put a video up already about how to make them but they're for a certain size... When I'm off to Scotland again at the end of August it is apparently mosquito/midge heaven around that time and I've invested in a product called "Smidge" which has brilliant reviews and is 100% effective, but of course that means spraying any exposed areas of skin each time you want to go out at dusk... Sorry I can't help more on this - I hope you find a good solution. Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton I've never seen bats around our house but we did have one IN our house once so apparently they are in the area!!! LOL
You may not have been to Newcastle where during my lifetime we have seen winter temperatures down to -19.
Informative video as usual, many thanks.
I have a question. We moved into our house in December, right at the bottom of the garden was a large dilapidated raised decking area and an old shed, I've removed the decking and will be removing the shed in late September. The ground under the decking was covered in 2 layers of thick black polythene and then covered with pea shingle. The decking had been there for about 15 years. As ponds require a non fertile soil covering (I know you use sub soil) would I be able to use this instead of sub soul, if not, we are planning a perennial wildflower meadow where the decking was, would this be sufficiently nutrient free for a wildflower meadow. Many Thanks
Hi there :) Sorry for the delay, just managing to catch up, I've been out on site until dark of late. Anyway, re your question... I think, unfortunately, that it might be too "rich" where it has been covered and allowed to "ferment" (for want of a better word!) - but before you discard it, it may be best to get a soil testing kit and see what it reads. You're right though, the least nutrient the better, particularly for the pond. Meadows are better with low nutrition purely because this stints the grass growth, allowing the more delicate wildflowers to fight their way through :) Hope that helps - let me know how you get on - best wishes, Joel
What happens to the frog species that spawn in spring puddles that dry up due to extended drought? I have saved chorus frogs tadpoles and let them develop into frogs, but if their home puddles have dried up, where can you release them when they turn into froglets? I live in Ga, US.
I'm enjoying absorbing as much of your knowledge as possible, Joel! I've now dug my pond to your suggested depth, but whilst my subsoil is lovely and infertile, it does have a high clay content. Will it still be ok to use on top of the liner/fleece? Or, should I replace with shingle at the base and some aquatic compost for the marginals....
Cheers. Martin
Hi Martin - so glad the channel is of help, this was the reason the channel was started, so that more and more habitats are available to creatures desperately in need right now :) Clay is fine to use, it just depends how usable it is as a planting medium. If you don't have much of the usable medium, you can use gravel/shingle in the bottom of the pond and save the "better stuff" for the margins for planting - I would avoid aquatic compost if possible as, unless it's contained and weighted down with grit it has a tendency to float about. I hope this is helpful - let me know if you need any other help :) Best wishes - Joel
@Wild Your Garden with Joel Ashton Cheers Joel - was keen to avoid an eternal muddy puddle, so can now progress in confidence (and without the risk of widespread mockery from the family!).
Best wishes. Martin
@@martinstevens6038 Brilliant 🤣 so glad this was of help :)
👍👍👍
Thank you! Appreciated :)
👍👍👍😊
Frogs don't really stop everything completely, they just slow it down to almost stopped and are able to breath through their skin, so they won't die if they hibernate under water as some species do. The top of the pond can freeze over - what is critical is that it doesn't freeze all the way down. That causes freeze kills. Very large, natural ponds have been used forever by people in previous generations for ice skating during the winter due to sufficient ice across the surface to support the skaters. Still, there would have been amphibians hibernating at the bottom. I had one in Western New York that was two feet deep and I had casualties due to freeze kill every year. I've also had toads mate and lay eggs in my pond. They always chose the shallow areas for that, not deep. Toads are adapted to life on the land except for mating, so deeper the better doesn't apply to them. Green frogs, leopard frogs and bull frogs want deeper water. Thanks.
I'm jealous of your local herpetofauna: don't forget this is UK, so our ecology is a bit different. We have only one species of toad likely to be in a garden pond - the European common toad Bufo bufo. Typically they prefer larger, deeper ponds (20m diameter, 90cm+ deep). This is probably because of two things - fish don't find them palatable, so they can thrive with fish and fewer amphibian competitors, and because they wrap their egg strings around submerged vegetation, rather than spawning it at the surface.
@@jopedder Understood. We have spring peepers which need very shallow vernal pools, eastern toads which use shallow water near the edge of the pond and bull frogs and leopard frogs which want deeper water. The leopard frogs will simply settle to the bottom and enter hibernation almost immediately. For viewers from North America, especially in Canada and the Northeast United States, you have to go a lot deeper. Three to four feet. This is a great channel by the way.
Thank you - appreciate your support and kind words - this is important information for those in N America for sure :) Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton A thought occurred to me while viewing your videos - while establishing a wildlife pond on your property is a great thing to do for preserving habitat for the wild life, and having multiple such ponds would be very advantageous to the wild life overall, the potential problem is that you could get a small breeding population of amphibians who would be out of luck if you had to sell your home and the new owners just filled in the pond. Have you ever worked with any communities to establish something much larger that would belong to the community? If so, a video show casing that would be very entertaining and informative. Thanks again.
Hi Joel. We are currently building a wildlife pond in our garden. We are building it at the bottom of a steep bank and so have had to build a retaining wall on the back side. Going on your comment about freezing, we live in Scotland and last winter it got down to -15. Should the pond therefore be deeper that 2ft?
Hello! So sorry for the delay in responding to you, my apologies. However, one of the excuses is that I was actually in Scotland for a week visiting clients, about the time you left your comment! Typical huh? However, if you can get the pond to at least 3ft, possibly 4ft deep that would no doubt help, I do hope my comment has come in time before you have started lining it - but don't worry if you have it at 2ft as I understand it takes pretty extreme weather to freeze an area 2ft deep. Let me know how you're getting on - best wishes, and apologies again - Joel
LOL - my tiny pond that is only around 6 inches deep is no good then! I am hoping it will still attract insects? I do have a barrel pond too, only completed this year so no sign of life yet, fingers crossed... I am new to ponds so it's a huge learning curve and making lots of mistakes! Thanks for another informative video Joel. Take care
My pond is tiny and attracts Common frogs, still working on getting the plants right to attract insects, but don't give up on it.☺
@@keithroberts42 Thanks so much Keith. There is hope then!
shallow margins are really important for ponds, not just as escape routes. The shallows (0-10cm deep) are the most biodiverse region in a pond, so a pond that is all shallow margin is excellent, it just means that it can develop too much vegetation and become marsh then dry grassland, and is more prone to drying out in summer. Ideally, a wildlife pond would have a really long drawdown zone so that there is 10cm deep water throughout the year, but the excellent tips in this video are focused on garden ponds where this would rarely be practical.
@@jopedder Thank you Jo. All is not lost with my little pond then. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
👍
Hi, great video as always. I want to make a pond near the bottom of my garden but it won't be massive. Possibly 6'x3'. My question is that the site does have sun, but my neighbor has a massive oak tree overhanging a large part of my garden and drops it's leaves everywhere and causes a lot of shade. So will it affect the pond and is it worth me going to the trouble of doing all that work. Thank you 👍😊
Hi Pat - sorry for the delay in responding, am just managing to catch up with everyone :) My own pond at home is in shade a fair bit of the day and does have an over-hanging tree - in autumn when the leaves shed it is relatively easy to use a net to remove the leaves, this ensures that they don't rot down and cause silt and of course more nutrition in the water which blanket weed thrives on. A pond is definitely worth the work ;) Hope that helps Pat, best wishes and thanks so much for your support - it's appreciated, Joel
Thank you. I will do my best to make it a good wildlife pond. I have watched you endlessly making ponds. So, fingers crossed 🤞👍😊
Hi Joel, hope all is well with you and yours. My pond only holds 50 litres of water. It's in an area of the garden that is in shade during the morning and sunny in the afternoon. It's only a meter in length and the deepest point about 40cm. When we have hot spells the water feels tepid, but i have more established plants now which shade the surface. Plenty of Common frogs around, with quite a variety of colours, one had a reddish hue, another olive green. Tadpoles developing nicely. The pond hasn't really attracted much in the way of insects, except those tiny little gnat larvae.I do get mice and hedgehogs, and had a rare visit from a fox. Would also love some visits from reptiles, I did have a Slow worm visit a couple of years ago, who knows still might be hiding out there somewhere. I could go on lol..
Hi Keith - great to hear from you. All good this side, except never enough time in the day lately, hence my late replies here. The plants will definitely help give shade, fringed water lily - if you don't have it already - is great for shading parts of the pond naturally. The frogs will take care of the mosquito and their larvae, tadpoles love the larvae. I hope you see that sloworm real soon :) Stay safe and keep me updated - best wishes to you and yours - Joel
With a pond liner how do you protect against mares tails puncturing the pond?
I’m planning a bentonite clay lined pond. This way punctures shouldn’t be an issue.
The costs are similar to a liner.
There is information on CZcams for ponds built using clay.
A possible option to consider.
I made a pond and never thought about the position 😢 it's in the sun and gets thick with green algae and sludge from the tree leaves decomping in it! I have to keep topping up the water it evaporates and Finally after 2 years we have frogs 🐸 I'm so excited but really don't know how to shade the pond to keep the frogs from moving on and leaving . The birds love it to bathe and drink from but I do have to keep topping it up so what can I do to correct a bad pond job ? Thanks Jules.
Hi there Jules - there's two things here... ponds are better in the sun usually, but only if they have 60-70% broad leaved floating plant cover to keep the water cool - heat and a lack of oxygenating plants is usually the cause of algal blooms etc. The only way with fallen leaves is to keep removing them as best you can when autumn comes, or when you first see them on the surface, otherwise of course they do rot down. Forgive me if you've seen these already but here's two videos that will explain I hope:
czcams.com/video/A5kZJ-WhNgg/video.html
and
czcams.com/video/14qTVRWE_CI/video.html
If you're in the UK Jules, then we sell all the plants, liner, subsoil etc that you need:
www.wildyourgarden.com
and we're always happy to advise customers on the best way forward and the right plants for the situation. Hope this helps, best wishes - Joel
I’m still contemplating on making a pond Joel.
I was thinking around the 3x2 metre as in your video how to make a wildlife pond.
So would it be best 5x3 metre. Also I’m thinking of locating it in the middle of the lawn so it’s away from overhanging branches but the area will have the sun most of the day. Will that be fine?
If it’s in the full sun you can reduce the sunlight levels by having thick planting of tall marginal plants, south facing so as to keep the water surface free from high levels of sunlight.
Hi there George - sorry for the delay, usual excuse of too much work! ;) Absolutely agree with Christian here and of course I love a pond as a statement in the middle of a garden, rather than tucked away in the edges - a lot of the fringed water lily type plants will not only help oxygenate but give a cover over the water too, giving shade to a good part of the pond naturally :) Hope that helps, so pleased you're considering a pond! Let me know if you need help - best wishes as always - Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Thank you Joel. At the moment my spine is the issue and scared that once I start I’d leave it midway.
Once I do dig it out I will be in touch via your website to make sure I order the right products 🤞🏻
Bro, I have a pond which is under a tree. Do you think waterlily can thrive there??
Hi there Sidd :) Sorry for the delay, have been so busy at work til late. However, as long as they get a bit of light, lilies will do well in part-shade. Hope that's helpful - best wishes and stay safe, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Ty for the reply 😍
Love From India Man😁
Are there any native evergreen plants suitable for the margins of a pond?
Hi Stephen. I would recommend Hard Rush, Brook lime and Marsh Marigold. I hope this helps 😊👍
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton thanks.
I have marsh marigold, but it isn't evergreen, is there different varieties?
@@stephenhead8675 it’s the only native marigold we have I’m afraid. Mine has sent back fresh growth after being cut down, which will stay through the winter. You could try cutting back the old stems now and then it will send up some fresh growth. Hope that helps
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton thank you
Do you find you get more mosquitos after putting in a pond?
Hi there Dan - not really, this could be said for any water body but the beauty of these natural ponds is that they attract birds, amphibians, bats and larger insects and they all make a huge dent in any mosquitoes and their larvae :) Hope this helps you decide - best wishes, Joel
I was always told a shallow pond and stagnation is a mosquito heaven so I avoid those issues also having the other wildlife eat the tasty larvae
My garden is the same size as that pond is 😂
But you are thinking of how you can make the maximum impact for wildlife, and that's the important part 😀
Sir can I text you on any social media? I needed some help with my pond.
Hi Sidd, would it be ok to email me? Send your questions etc to me at hazelwoodlandscapes@hotmail.com and we can keep dialogue up better that way - I'm struggling a little to keep up at the moment on social media, with work so busy but at least with email we can keep in contact in one place :) Hope that's ok - best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Yes sir, I would be more than happy to be in touch.
When you say 60 centimetres, do you mean 2 feet?
Yes