Our new wildlife pond

That looks absolutely stunning @Sienna's Blossom . You definitely have a good eye for garden design, both your gardens have been so beautiful.

 

Thank you, we are going to plant lavender next to the bench too. I'm really looking forward to sitting there in the sunshine when this cold snap passes. It's been nice sitting there on warmer winter days, we've planted winter honeysuckle and sweet box so the scent has been lovely. Makes me really happy

 

You might get the water turning green with the the stronger sunlight, it might be an idea to add plants to shade the surface a bit, I have water lilies and water hawthorn, which has the added bonus of nice flowers as well.

 

Thanks @burnie we've planted two small lilies so hopefully we will have plenty of cover when they start to grow? I have a water hawthorn in the other pond so may divide it and put some in the new pond at some stage.

 

I used to have water Hawthorn years ago, but found it died down in the winter and died down in summer, it would just start to flower before the frost killed it back for another year.
Would be interested to find out if you have noticed this kind of behaviour.

 

From what I've read it's normal for them to die back in the summer when the water warms up. They should flower in the spring, and sometimes again in the winter. I don't think they like frosts though so that might explain what happened to yours. We recently repotted ours and it has three or four stems that aren't quite up to the surface yet but looks like they're getting ready to flower soon (they'll probably be happier once the latest cold snap is over!)

 

Hi Sienna's Blossom, your pond looks fab. Bet it will be full of life for years to come. I have 3 wildlife ponds and the largest has loads of newts but the frogs never use it for their tadpoles. They use a smaller one for this. Too much yellow flag iris in one so I need to get it there and yank a load out really. I have grass snakes living up near this top pond and yet the newts seem to escape. Grass snakes come right down to the fish pond near the cottage and nick goldfish sometimes. I can share photo of that if you are not squeamish!

Here's my top pond, favourite of the newts.

 

My water hawthorn seems to thriving up here, indeed it began to take over in the second year, the ponds frozen just now

 

Looks lovely @Dahlia Queen I'd love to attract newts to the garden, I remember pond dipping in my childhood and seeing lots of newts and froglets. Happy memories!

 

Thanks @Sienna's Blossom. Bet you will get newts. What wouldn't they love in that pond of yours. Let me know when they come, won't you.
I remember pond dipping too, what fun it was. Hardly any ponds and water meadows now it seems, all vanished since I was a child. Sad state of affairs, but we are doing our bit and ponding up.
We are wildlife warriors, well done us!

 

Hello pond lovers.
Has anyone got frog spawn yet. My pond is getting its green flush, but no frogs have appeared. V

 

Mine was still frozen yesterday, but we tend to get Smooth Newts more than Frogs breeding.

 

No, nothing yet but males have been croaking in my smallest wildlife pond (the one they usually use) so I wonder if there are no females here this year. Hope not, would be very sad.

Smooth newts use my biggest wildlife pond but nothing yet, hopefully they will arrive once it gets warmer.

 

Got my first, this year, a few days ago.