by Sharon Jones

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There are many ways to renovate and upgrade your garden, and any changes you make can have an impact not only on the design but the wildlife who visit you and live there. The environment is an important topic, and if you are looking for small ways to help the ecosystem, building a garden pond is a great idea. 

Building a pond is pretty straight forward and all you will need is a hole, pond liner, Tsurumi pumps for air, and some plants to get started. And once you have a pond up and running there is a whole myriad of creatures who will come to call it home… 

Invertebrates

If you ever spent time pond-dipping as a child, you will know that pond life largely consists of invertebrates who survive largely by eating algae and plants in the pond. Here are just a few of the creatures you might come across in the pond:

• Pond-skaters

• Water snails

• Leeches

• Worms

• Water beetles

• Water boatmen

• Freshwater mussels

• Larvae 

Although these small critters aren’t the most attractive residents in your pond, they play an important role in the ecosystem and provide a food source for larger creatures. 

Dragonflies and damselflies

Some of the most exciting creatures you will encounter in the pond are dragonflies and damselflies. These stunning creatures have been on the earth for millions of years and they are an integral part of our ecosystem. In the pond, you will find the larvae and eventually mature forms of these creatures:

• Dragonfly

• Damselfly

• Mayfly

• Alderfly

• Caddisfly

The larvae of dragonflies and their cousins will live in your pond for a long time, they feed on other insects as well as tadpoles and small fish. In the summer the larvae will climb out of the water onto plants and emerge to brighten up your garden!

Amphibians

Perhaps the main reason you want to build a pond in your garden is to attract frogs and other amphibians. These beautiful garden dwellers will be a welcomed addition to the pond and as they reproduce and grow they will continue to come back year after year. From spawn to tadpole to animal… these are a fun and fascinating type of creature to welcome in the garden. Here are the common amphibians you will likely see in your pond:

• Common frog

• Common toad

• Palmate newt

• Smooth newt

• Great crested newt

• Natterjack Toad

When you are looking to encourage amphibians into your garden pond it is important to provide platforms and methods for climbing out of the pond. You can make platforms out of rocks and ramps out of wood. This will ensure that frogs can come and go, as well as young frogs being able to leave the pond and make their first journey in the summer. The first year you look to bring frogs into the garden you might need to get some frogspawn from a friend or family member who has some. 

Once you have set up your pond, you’ll have a whole new ecosystem in the backyard to enjoy all year long, and you will have done something great for the environment.