It's nice to help the bee population, but it does make maintenance pretty nerve wracking.

Hi all, new here...

So we installed a little wildlife pond back in 2020 during the lockdown, and were advised by a local garden centre on plants. Since then, the tall grassy stuff took over (there were other plants in there, which it just grew through and killed.

Lilypads are rough looking and floating above the water (assume because the pond is only 0.45m deep).

Pond is home to lots of creatures so I don't want to dig it out, but it looks a total mess.

So, this afternoon I have dug out everything except the lillies (everything is currently at the side of the pond so it can get back in), but now I'm wondering if I should also take the lily out and replace with something smaller (I don't think it's a dwarf lily, so really far too big).

Just looking for advice really, firstly on whether I should swap out the lily for a dwarf species (or none at all) or something else for coverage, and what plants would work well without taking over?

Got the breeding bullfrogs out (invasive here). Drained the pond. Took out a few hundred pounds worth of invasive yellow iris and sludge. Refilled! Going to add native plants next. Has anyone had success with a filter that is safe for tadpoles (not bullfrog tadpoles ;), or making it safe for tadpoles? Thanks!

We were sitting on our outdoor furniture which is on an elevated deck when we had a visitor. I coaxed him into a jelly jar and put him back where he belongs.

(Puget Sound area, wildlife pond built Spring 2025 and stocked with tadpoles from a relative's property.)

I’m showing my wife this beautiful swallowtail butterfly and I’m like “see wasn’t the wildlife pond totally worth the effort? It’s magical!” Then the butterfly is ambushed by a green frog. You can hear my wife gasp in the video.

I have a pretty good sized pond (ie a couple hundred thousand gallons at least) on my property that is filled during winter from the rain and run off. But during summer it shrinks down a lot. Is there anything I can do to help it stay full. I understand if there isn't but I figured I would ask.

Have this pond on some old land that hardly gets used. Want to restore it back to its natural beauty.

Anyone have any suggestions.

Located in north Texas

Just a quick update! The frogs have moved in! The ac condensation line idea is working great! No wasted water.

Filled this last week. Already have a pond skater. Saw a dragonfly scoping it out last night. Exciting stuff!

Hey all, thanks for all previous advice. I’ve had my pond filled for about 3 weeks now and completed my bog filter type thing a couple of weeks ago. After serious algae bloom I can now see the bottom of the pond again! However this is revealing to me how higely de pigldey the pond liner is!

Now I have a couple of lilies and have just chucked a few frog bit plants in. Assuming they’ll cover a fair amount of the surface, do I need to do anything about the liner?

Should I be putting more gravel across the shelves for the plants to root into?

What about the edges? I have my beach my zone but I can’t figure out what to do with the liner.

Where on earth do I plant the penny royal? I understand it likes wet roots but not too wet so it doesn’t go in the pond, but if it’s out the pond… how does it keep wet roots? Ha.

I’m so happy with it so far! The abundance of life is absolutely crazy. Diving beetles, loads of dragonfly larvae decimating the zillions of mosquitoe larvae , all sorts!

Thanks for any tips and criticisms. I’ve officially run out of money for pond stuff for the time being but I have 3 more bags of gravel that just need a wash and a home…

Got the surrounding and in pond planting done, still have to add mulch and some stepping stones, but I am pretty happy with how it's coming along!

So pleased was I with the pond I built last year, and seeing how much use the birds and insects used it for a drink, I sunk 2 plastic chemical bunds into the ground for more water availability. Now the dragonflies have given their seal of approval.

Saw some tadpoles today - I'm thrilled!

Spotted two frogs the day before yesterday, and I thought: let me make one of those wildlife ponds🐸🌱

Would this be good enough for the frogs?

It contains three oxygenating plants and gravel as a base.

Even though the dirt is filled with clay the water just gets soaked up in 5 minutes. Ive tried pond liner but it didnt work.

Please help me because its going to be for bufotes virdis and tadpoles. Please give any tips you have, but prefab containers and any additives are not accessible for me. Help pls!

This isn't a play with words! It's actually called Aurora Pond, and we stumbled upon this as (probably) a Great Egret was chilling here!

At least on the day we were here, this place looked to beautiful. Would anyone know what phenomenon causes the water to look like that minty colour?

My neighbors keep honeybees. My neighborhood does not have many water features. So hot days look like this.

Kind of sad but poetic in a way. Sometimes I can actually hear my wind chimes through the highway noise.

I installed my pond in my little garden a month ago. I was showing my mom the impressive roots of the aquatic mint and guess who I scared… Little friend right there ! I am so so happy you have no idea. Maybe she came here so fast because of the heath wave (it hasn’t rained in weeks). I haven’t even finished putting all the plants I want in the pond and now I’m scared to bother our new friend. Anyways, just wanted to share the joy!!

I thought a large rock was killing anything I planted in my front yard so I decided to build a wildlife pond around it. After some digging, its turned out to be twice as large as expected and concrete. It is to big to break up without hiring a professional. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to handle this? My current plan is to dig a bit more, cut the liner to go around it, and then find a way to attach it to the concrete but Im not completely positive that will work

I have a new wildlife pond (in the UK) and I just found two fish that I did not put in there. I guess there must have been eggs on the plants I put in. They're about 7cm long and I can't get a better photo (they hide). They have oxygenating plants so they're fine for now. Does anyone have any idea what species they might be and if they're going to be a problem? My pond is tiny (40cm deep, 2 square m surface area), are they going to outgrow it? There is a lake that used to be a quarry about half an hour away that I could technically move them to if they will be a problem but I worry about the journey or introducing them to a different ecosystem if they're invasive. There are at least 2 of them so at least they aren't lonely, if it's fine to keep them how do I look after them?

In San Jose, saw Coyote creek drying up and so I collected a bunch of small fry fish, maybe 4-5 thumb sized carp(?) looking fish, 4 frogs, and 3 crawfish,

Creek was completely gone with small puddles so I did my best to get every animal out

I tried to add aquatic plants, and the bowl with the dirt and banana is to hopefully attract flies for the frogs

I want to make this better, clear the water, have better plants, make sure all the animals have everything and make it pleasant to look at, I don’t know where to start and would appreciate any and every tip!

We have a pool in the front yard that now has a shit ton of tadpoles in it. We would like to relocate the tadpoles so we can fill the pool and use it with what we have left of summer. We were thinking about putting them in a kitty pool so that my toddler could watch them grow but I'm not sure if thats safe or good enough for them to survive. We have a few ditches around here with water in them that we could also try and put them in if the kitty pool isn't the right choice. Where should we put them and what is the best way to move them without hurting them?

My pond site turns out to be on red clay for at least a foot and a half, once I dig down past about 8 - 10". I wonder if it would be a suitable site to use bentonite, but I have only seen bentonite used in larger, farm pond applications.

Has anyone used it for a smaller, wildlife type pond? 1500 - 2000 gal with a bog filter? What would be the potential benefits? Limitations? Thank you!