Got a frog in my pond now was just feeding the fish when I saw this thing moving so I took a picture of it
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Best time to make a garden pond? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Dave Adshead
- Start date
Euan Buchan said:
That's brilliant Euan. Didn't take it long did it.
D
hmm mebe it was a Toad not a frog in my garden the eyes were like that picture
Isurus
Well-known member
Euan Buchan said:
Euan I think the easiest way to tell is whether the skin is warty and dry looking (like in the picture)(toad) or smooth and wet looking (frog). Chances are if it was in your pond at this time of year it was a frog as toads tend to like drier places outside of spawning times. Of course either is possible at any time. Keep up the good work with the pond!
Richard Bryce
Well-known member
TonyC said:Watch out for Duckweed. A friend gave us some aquatic plants and I didn't wash off all the Duckweed. We went away for a week to come back to a bright green covering of all the water surface and I've struggled to get rid of it ever since
Bit late, but nevertheless, having just spotted this....
I wouldn't worry too much about duckweed. It's actually good for your pond. It feeds off the excees minerals in the water and in so doing helps keep down blanket weed. The surface of your pond also needs to be at least one third covered (preferable two-thirds) to prevent sunlight promoting blanket weed, and duckweed does this job well until you get other plants established. Just skim the duckweed off every few weeks to get rid of the 'bloated' so allowing fresh to grow to leach more excess minerals from the water. Toss the duckweed on to the compost heep, or directly onto the garden. It makes an excellent fertiliser/mulch. Blackbirds love chucking it about too (in the US duckweed is harvested as a high protein chicken feed).
Another way to minimise blanket weed, and so duckweed growth too, is to drop barley hay into the water. It will need replacing every so often and is a costlier option.
Also resist the tempatation to fill ponds with tap water - it takes years for duckweed/barley hay to get rid of the excess minerals. Let the pondfill naturally, hence the best time to dig is autumn or now, before the summer droughts..
We built a pond last spring with a gravel edge. We got frogs within two weeks. Then we had toads then in August we got a newt that stayed a few weeks and ate everything that moved. All the Daphnea went and all the bloodworms and mossies. So I would`nt worry to much. We have no filter just plants. We get blanket weed but keep pulling it out by hand.
Toads only go back to the pond where they hatched if thats the word. Our pond is only about 6ft X 5ft and at the deepest part 2ft. I saw a frog or toad at the bottom about two weeks ago. The birds love it even the bluetit bathes in the shallow gravel edge.
Toads only go back to the pond where they hatched if thats the word. Our pond is only about 6ft X 5ft and at the deepest part 2ft. I saw a frog or toad at the bottom about two weeks ago. The birds love it even the bluetit bathes in the shallow gravel edge.
