Make friends with nature – make a mini pond

If you want to encourage more wildlife in your garden, a great way to start is with your very own mini pond.
Even a small water feature can help attract different types of creatures from frogs to toads to insects.

What you'll need:

Four bricks
Sand
Old washing-up bowl
Gravel and large stones
Native pond plants (e.g. milfoil and hornwort)                         
Potted pond plant (e.g. water mint)
Soil
Logs
Branches
Sun-loving plants for bank (e.g. thyme)
How to make your mini pond:

1. Lay four bricks so that the long ends are facing north to south.

2. Fill the space between the bricks with sand.

3. Put your washing-up bowl on top.

4. Mix sand and soil, and then make a bank up the sunny south-facing short edge. Plant sun loving plants such as thyme. Put in flat stones for sunbathing and leave gaps for mining bees and digger wasps to mine and dig.

5. At the other end, stack up a mixture of soil and old logs.

6.  Add small gravel to the bottom of the bowl and build up larger stones so that hedgehogs can escape. Put in a dragonfly perching stick or two. Wedge the bottom of each stick under heavy stones.

7. Add pond plants and bury your potted water plant in pebbles so that the pot is just below the surface. Watch for wildlife and keep your bank flowers watered.

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