GlenG

Wildlife Ponds

Hi Kate - I have something of similar size which I was given along with some lilly roots etc that came with it. I've now got it near my larger pond for some water-loving plants (I was given it as a gift and the plants that came with it died first winter because they were actually not for our climate) and it has now "naturalised" with small duckweed etc, but although there is open water in it and I have seen a frog in it, the frogs have never spawned in it, but always do so in my full sized pond (made with a flexible liner about 8 foot x 6 foot and from a shelving "shore" running down to 4'6" foot deep in part. I dug it myself and when I reached a layer of easy to dig sand I got carried away with the depth!  )  . The frogs breed in it every year, but the Toads though seem to spawn some years and not others in it for some reason, so you may actually just get your frogs back again with luck.  As for plants, when starting my larger pond I was given about 3 simple plants from a wildlife pond in someone's garden and there were obviously loads of eggs and various creatures on the roots because my pond was populated within about a week with sticklebacks, beetles etc etc. If the water was clean when you emptied yours then it sounds as if the ecosystem was working fine so you could maybe try a "transplant" like mine from someone elses pond and have instant life in the pond? Which of course means food for the frogs too.  Something maybe to also consider is if there is enough food around in the garden for the frogs? If it's a very tidy garden or is surrounded by very tidy "controlled" ones where there is no long grass or scrub for beetles and things to live in then perhaps the frogs have just moved to look for more food somewhere?   

It's lovely to hear the frogs at mating time at night and to later see all the little "froglets" about once the tadpoles have grown, so I do hope you have luck and get your frogs back. Our frogs and toads need all the help they can get these days.

Wildlife Ponds

I think you need to look at what went wrong last time first as most pond plants are normally perennials so should have come back to life in the spring. Frogs will spawn almost anywhere, currently even in tyre tracks with water in lying in them the forest I work in! So  there must be a particular reaswon they've not laid in your pond this year. Last year, did the water go bad/smelly or anything like that? Can you tell us how wide and deep your pond is? 

Wildlife Ponds

Please please if using things with slippery sides like a bath, make sure there are stones that slope from the water level right to the top edge so any creatures that fall in can climb back out - I've seen mice and even a hedgehog drowned in such containers (even a washing up basin someone had used once).

Potting shed burglary

Thank your local magistrates. This sort of thing thrives in areas where the courts are wooly minded (like my area!) and shoudl the offender get caught, believe any old guff the (paid for by the poor old taxpayers/victims) defendents solicitor tells them - so this sort of thing goes on and on and on sadly. There's no mentality to it I'm afraid and you can't apply logic at all - often they throw half the stuff away anyway. I used to deal with offenders in my work and even they can't give you a reason!

Talkback: Toad In A Hole.

We have a medium sized wildlife pond and have frogs and toads in the garden - the toads turn up in the least expected places! Even round the front of the house in amongst our wood pile a long way from any water (they can't phyiscally get around the house, so goodness knows where the ones at the front come from - no water for about half a mile minimum that way. So I made a little log pile in some long grass in the back garden and we've seen them there too now as it's made a nice natural refuge for them completely free of charge, and as it's slowly rotting has lots of little beasties for them to eat there too. For all the frogs and toads we have, we still get slugs and snail damage I'm afraid.

Talkback: How to grow wildflower meadow plants

Nice and simple to do! I'm trying to turn a plain boring verge into a wildflower "meadow" - bought plugs are too expensive a way to do it and I've had poor result (sub 10%) with direct planted seed, so this would make a good use of my plug trays which are usually unused over the winter too.

Talkback: How to grow wildflower meadow plants