The creation of our first container ponds

The opportunity to create container ponds came when two old azaleas, each planted in a vintage wooden half barrel, died in the very hot summer of 2022. In late summer 2023 the barrels were emptied out and then lined with heavy duty pond liner.

Tap water was used to fill the containers, which is not ideal, as its concentration of mineral salts can encourage algal blooms in new ponds. The best option is to use rainwater, from a water butt or allowing the ponds to fill up naturally over the winter. However, this option wasn’t available to me. Luckily, it turned out not to be a problem as the ponds are small enough for me to remove pond weed and algae by hand once or twice a week over the warmer months. Since then, I have rarely needed to top up the ponds and then only in the very hottest weeks. Mostly I can rely on natural rainwater to keep the levels sufficient high.

A small selection of pond plants were purchased and introduced to the new ponds. The list included marginals such as yellow flag iris, purple loosestrife, mimulus, water forget-me-not, small reeds; two miniature water lilies that sit in deeper central water, and a couple of floating oxygenator plants, like Elodea. All of these subsequently survived although some are more vigorous than others. The mimulus is particularly successful and I have had to pull out handfuls to stop it taking over completely.

By late spring 2024, the ponds seemed to have attained a sort of balance (it takes time for an ecosystem, even a small one such as the container ponds) to settle down and for all the different parts to work together. At this point I introduced some ramshorn snails to help control the growth of pond weed. They proved elusive afterwards, but I do occasionally get a glimpse of one at the surface. They graze on pond algae, helping to keep everything functioning as it should.

The summer of 2024 saw everything come to fruition as insects arrived, water bugs established themselves, birds used it as a natural bathing pool (standing on the marginal plants to balance!), and hoverflies and dragon flies whizzed happily over the surface. The plants flowered and I watched our first two water lilies open.

Because the ponds are in containers, it is no use to ground level animals, but there are other water dishes close by that ground dwellers can indulge in. I find the ponds endlessly fascinating to observe and it feels good to have helped to create a new ecological niche for our precious fellow creatures to live in and prosper.