It doesn’t matter how many channels you have, there are always those evenings when there’s nothing on the telly. The solution is simple: build yourself a garden pond.Nowadays most folk seem to go for water features rather than a full-blown pond. It’s understandable; they are easy to install, attractive to look at and relatively easy to maintain.
But they don’t offer much in the way of sustenance to wildlife, and that way you miss out every bit as much as the creatures that will enjoy a pond.
Frogs will spawn there, birds will drink, dragonflies and damselflies will skim the surface and you can even introduce goldfish for a spot of exotic colour.
Even in a tiny pond, water boatmen and pond skaters will appear almost before it has been filled. The larger the pond the greater your scope – waterfowl will take up residence if space is available and nesting facilities provided.
As far as siting goes, make your pond in the open – not under trees where, at the first sign of autumn, it will fill with leaves. Make it as large as you can, and certainly no smaller than 6ft by 4ft, which is an absolute minimum.
As far as depth goes, you don’t need to go mad with the spade – 18in at the deepest point is fine for a small pond, and even on a massive one, 3ft is ample. Around the edge of the pond construct a step arrangement to act as a shelf for “marginal aquatics” that like to live in shallow water.
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