Pond in a container

I have a large-ish bowl shaped container that I used years ago when I had a little fountain. I also have lots of cobbles.
I thought of making it into a little pond.
What could I do to stop the water going manky?
I suppose it's likely to attract mosquitoes so I'd probably keep it away from the house.
Where should I site it? I can do sun or various levels of shade but I would prefer to keep the sunny areas for plants.

Also, does it matter whether or not, I sink it into the ground? I have enough cobbles to hide the bowl.
Diameter 36 cm
Depth17cm

 

Hi,

Being such a small shallow container its going to heat up too easily in summer, so perhaps just using decorative pebbles etc and a little solar pump / fountain might be better than plants which allows you to place it where you want, on the surface or in the ground.

Would suggest you change the water as often as possible, eg once a week to avoid it going off etc.
Just pouring in a large can of water should do the job, though in summer with evaporation you may have to do it more often.
Fitting an on/off switch to the pump so its only on when you are in the garden will reduce the evaporation and the chance of the pump running dry.

 

Thank you @ricky101

 

You could make a nice little bird bath with it. The cobbles could be utilised to make a shallow water area which would be nice for birds to bathe and drink in. I would set it up so you could over fill it with water to do a water change, ie cobble it up to the last couple of inches so the excess water spills over the rim.

 

That's a great idea @Thevictorian

 

I have half a bucket buried into a corner where nothing grows. It's half filled with cobbles and popular amongst Finches

There's a tiny solar powered fountain without tube that just plop plop plops water just below the surface. A delivery man asked if there was a frog, he had been standing there trying to see it

Anyways, the water is always clear, possibly because the pondlet constantly overflows and refills in the rain. It's South-East facing and would get sun all morning if the said phenomenon ever appeared around here.

I convince myself that the pump keeps mosquitos from breeding. And if they do, it's just food for the birds. I threw a bit of an oxygenating plant in but it has disappeared.