Watch out for puddocks while stocking a pond!

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Making Space for Nature by Donald Mitchell

Young naturalists in Laide exploring lake life.

A lake! A lake! My kingdom for a lake! The single most effective way to increase the amount and variety of animals and bugs in any garden in a long way to say biodiversity or plot of land is to build a pond.

It can be any type of lake, any size, any shape and made of almost anything that holds water. The simple fact that there would be water lying around attracts life because SETI, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, is on the lookout for planets that might have water.

It doesn’t have to cost money either, many households will have old buckets or basins lying around which are great for a small pond to start with, or for a small garden that doesn’t have enough space to swing a cat

Actually, cats and gardens with lots of birds or mice and voles or wee ponds don’t mix well, so swing the cat.

How to start? Simple, dig a hole the size and depth of your chosen vessel, the better to fit, so that the level of the basin, or other, is level with the surface of the soil. Obviously this is so that any amphibious creepy crawlies or water bugs can easily access the water without having to climb the equivalent of Ben Nevis to get there.

The corollary effect is also true that you need to build the inside of the container so that the aforementioned creatures can easily escape from the water this is done simply by using various stones, or bricks that may happen to be lying around, do just make sure the escape pile is stable.

It’s a good idea to add some water plants, especially those that can add oxygen to the water. Put them in pots, to contain the growth, because we don’t want them to run rampant and suffocate everything else.

Common frog.

Also try some that grow at the water’s edge and come up later to flower, and plant others on the outside edge of your basin that will provide some shade, especially if it’s a small container as it can overheat quickly in the Highland summer sunshine. Really!

It’s best to get your plants, or animals or insects, from local sources like a neighbor’s pond—ask first! Also try looking for native aquatic plants that are native plants for native bugs.

There are so many examples of introduced species that have become an invasive problem that it’s best to be cautious. Even something like tadpoles can carry amphibian viruses and spread diseased puddocks which is a Scottish word for frogs from your small pond to a wider area.

If so, SISI will be chasing you with the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative is a four-year partnership project addressing invasive non-native species along rivers and waterways in northern Scotland.

If you have the space and where for a large pond, keep to the same principals but just increase your ambitions. Remember to keep it deep enough to avoid total freezing, although always be careful if you have kids around.

There is a mass of pond building information on the net, on the internet not on the pond net. Pleasant ponding to you all.

Donald Mitchell, HLH countryside ranger.Making Space for Nature is a monthly wildlife column with tips about how we can take action to help improve biodiversity in our communities. This month’s wildlife columnist, Donald Mitchell, is High Life Highland countryside ranger for north-west Sutherland. Donald has worked in wildlife conservation for over 50 years with research posts at the Nature Conservancy Council (now NatureScot) and within Fisheries as well as hands-on wildlife conservation at Highland Wildlife Park. He is a veteran environmentalist and has worked with HLHs (formerly Highland Council’s) ranger service for 25 years. Would you like to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.

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