Wild about ponds
The hub of my small garden is the little pond and the area surrounding it – the ‘nature reserve’. A name a little grand, perhaps, for its diminutive size but christened with a flourish of hope and determination that I could create a desirable haven for wildlife in my modest corner of the UK.
Growing up, I was endlessly fascinated by the pond in my childhood garden, so I was overjoyed to discover a little pond when exploring the garden of our soon-to-be new home. Small though it is, less than one square metre in size, I could see its potential. But it wasn’t until our first spring in the house, as I eagerly watched the garden come to life for the first time, that I discovered the pond’s spring-summer residents: newts! Excitement only goes some way to express the utter glee I felt on making this discovery.
Nurturing a love of wildlife
My love of newts began around the age of 10 when, during a pond dipping activity on a school trip, I scooped up a newt in my net. But not just any newt – a great crested newt! Its other worldly, dragon-like appearance and the beauty of its crest and markings captured my imagination and began a lifelong obsession. The activity leader, on spotting my find, quickly explained that great crested newts are protected, and that I needed to stop parading it in front of my friends and instead return it swiftly to the pond. A key lesson I have taken from this experience, as well as from the hours I spent observing frogs in my childhood garden and the days spotting birds, seals and dolphins on family holidays, is the importance of instilling an appreciation and love for wildlife at an early age. It becomes part of you – something you spend your life seeking out and desperately wanting to protect.
Meet ‘The Newtons’
I’ve carried this lesson forward in the way I approach raising my two young boys. Like me, they adore their garden pond and its star inhabitants, the newts – who we affectionately refer to as ‘The Newtons’. When you read about creating a newt-friendly pond, the line you often come across is ‘bigger is better’ but our thriving little habitat blows this theory out of the (ahem) water. What our pond is though, relative to its size, is deep – the water almost to my shoulder when reaching into its depths. I believe this is one of the things that makes it particularly attractive to newts. Another is the ample oxygenating pond weed, giving them plenty of cover to hide and breed during spring and early summer. The female newts lay their eggs singly, wrapping each egg safely in a pond weed leaf. For my boys, the fun really begins when they start to spot the newt tadpoles or ‘newtpoles’. Counting how many they see each day and watching them change and grow is an annual delight. The newts in our pond are smooth newts – one of the three native species of newt found in the UK. The male is easily identifiable during the breeding season when he sports a spiffy spotted crest to attract females. If you’d like help identifying newts, The Woodland Trust has put together this wonderful, straightforward guide.
A welcoming habitat
When it comes to choosing plants for my pond, I always opt for native plants. Non-native varieties can spread far and wide taking over from their native counterparts which are a vital source of food and shelter for wildlife. There are many pond plants to choose from, with Gardeners’ World highlighting 16, but I only have space for two or three, so they need to work hard for their place. My bog pimpernel provides much-needed shade with its dense carpet of tiny leaves and little flowers, which open in the sunshine to reveal delicately striped-pink petals. My latest addition is water avens. Each time I look, I see a bee delving into one of its purplish pink, bell-shaped blooms – reminiscent of fairy hats.  As well as being a big hit with pollinators, it also attracts dragonflies and damselflies, all of which are devoured by other creatures like newts, frogs and birds. With a bee house hanging above the pond and a bird table to the side of it, I like to think I’ve created a successful small-scale ecosystem.
Safe and sound
To stop my plants spreading and taking over the pond, I grow them in aquatic baskets which I place on a pile of old house bricks. The bricks provide a stable base for the plants and an entry and exit route for the newts. A ramp of some kind is essential, as many newts and frogs spend the winter months hibernating on land. So that they can easily find shelter, I keep a loose pile of rocks and wood to the side of my pond. The route to this shelter is covered with native wildflowers – offering safe cover as they make their short journey. As a precaution before cutting the lawn, I always ruffle long grass with a stick to make sure our little pond friends or other small animals aren’t hiding in there.
Key members of this ecosystem I’m yet to mention are the hundreds of other little creatures, many microscopic, that call our pond their home. A large number are plant eaters, such as the ever-grazing pond snails, but some, like pond skaters and water boatmen, are fierce predators – and they all play a vital role in maintaining the equilibrium.
Ponds come in all shapes and sizes, and even with the tiniest amount of outside space you can create a welcoming watery habitat for a whole host of creatures and native plants. If you need further inspiration and practical tips, I recommend having a read of this marvellous #wildaboutgardens pond booklet, found on The Wildlife Trusts website.
Nic x
