Native pond plants

Lillydee

Hi guys,
Planning on setting up a small wildlife pond in the garden.

I want to get some native plants only for it, does anyone know where I can find someone who specialises in native aquatic plants?

Any ideas on which are most beneficial for wildlife?
Cheers!

Sonnenblumen

Try Pond Hobby over in North Dublin between Ballyboughal and Lusk.

muckyhands

Lillydee wrote: »

Hi guys,
Planning on setting up a small wildlife pond in the garden.

I want to get some native plants only for it, does anyone know where I can find someone who specialises in native aquatic plants?

Any ideas on which are most beneficial for wildlife?
Cheers!

Plan on doing the same as yourself at some stage hopefully sooner rather than later. Ive started growing some plants for it like Purple loosestrife and Ragged robin for the damp marginal areas. Yellow flag Iris too.

@ Sonnenblumen does Pond hobby specialise in native aquatics? Thanks.

Sonnenblumen

muckyhands wrote: »

Plan on doing the same as yourself at some stage hopefully sooner rather than later. Ive started growing some plants for it like Purple loosestrife and Ragged robin for the damp marginal areas. Yellow flag Iris too.

@ Sonnenblumen does Pond hobby specialise in native aquatics? Thanks.

TBH I don't know, they are pond specialists selling all kinds of related hardware and they also stock water plants. I've never looked closely at the plants.

magicbastarder

i'm hoping to put a pond in at some point soon too. one thing i have to worry about is that sometimes the garden floods (to no more than an inch or two, i'm told), but this would mean i'd need to raise the sides of the pond to prevent it becoming (temporarily) part of a much larger pond.

apart from whatever wildlife is in the pond 'escaping', are there any other issues with a pond overflowing like this? such as nutrients getting into the pond?

redser7

There's a fancy name for this feature but I cant remember it or find it. Basically you use the soil removed to make the pond to create a raised 'mound' all round the perimeter. You can bury the liner under it. Then compact it and grow grasses and other plants to soften the pond edge. Also gives a nice raised levee to help with flooding or contaminant washing in.
Have no personal experience, it's just from what i read out of interest.

paddy147

You could also create a purpose built "bog garden" beside the pond so any pond overflow goes to good use.You could have some native reeds and bog grasses in that area and then mix in some of the native flowers too.


To me a "wildlife pond" is just that...how it would be found in the natural wilderness,countryside or off to the side of a natural stream.

emo72

go to a lake and take a bucket of water and use that to seed your pond. it will bring in seeds of plants and tiny animals.

my mistakes:

1) i kept changing the water when it got dirty/cloudy. just leave it to develop

2) my pond is still. no flowing water. that helps some bad guys like mosquitos. some surface movement would counteract the bad guys.

3) i have a sandstone border around it. it would have been more natural if id had let plants grow around it to provide shelter for critters getting in and out.