Pond dipping (c) Emma Websdale
Ponds
One of the most effective ways to make your garden or local green space more wildlife friendly is to add some water.
You don't need much space for a pond, and making one doesn't have to be expensive or labour intensive - an old sink or garden planter can be enough to attract wildlife. Ideally ponds will be at least 30cm deep to prevent freezing entirely during cold weather.
The best ponds for wildlife have shallow edges with marginal plants and nearby plant shelter for amphibians and invertebrates. Oxygenating plants should cover 60-70 percent of the water's surface to effectively balance the nutrients and reduce algae blooms during summer.
Some pond plants can be invasive, so it's important to research your plant choices before introducing them to your new pond. Safe plants for your pond include:
Plants for deep water
- Hornwort
- Water crowfoot
- Common water starwort
- Spiked water milfoil
Plants for shallow water
- Water forget me not
- Water mint
- Brooklime
- Yellow flag iris
- Flowering rush
- Water plantain
Marginal plants*
- Meadow sweet
- Purple loosestrife
- Ladies smock (cuckoo flower)
- Marsh marigold
- Rushes or sedges
*Some of these plants can spread across large areas, so it's important to pick plants that work for your space.
Plants to avoid
Plants to avoid
- Curly waterweed (Lagarosiphon major)
- Canadian pondweed (Elodea canadensis)
- Nuttall's pondweed (Elodea nuttallii)
- Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)
- Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)
- Floating water primrose (Ludwigia grandiflora, Ludwigia uruguayensis and Ludwigia peploides)*
- Floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides)*
- Parrots feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum)*
- Australian swamp stone-crop (Crassula helmsii)*
- Water fern (Azolla filiculoides)*
* These plants have been banned for sale in the UK.
To avoid accidentally spreading non-native invasive species into the wider countryside, don't move plants or animals between ponds and always compost any plant material that’s been removed.
