Wildlife Pond

Planting with Nature in Mind

Design and build constraints:

To attract as much wildlife as possible, specifically newts and frogs
To have a long season of interest

My clients had taken on an overgrown garden and redesigned the layout themselves. Having already had the hard landscaping installed and added some planting themselves, they felt they wanted to develop their garden by first of all adding in a wildlife pond, with the view to enhancing other areas of the garden over time. Leading busy lives, and knowing first hand that this could be hard work, they were not ready to take on the task of build themselves.

We decided to place the pond in a prominent area next to the patio so it was sited in full sun and was visible from the patio and house windows and also away from any overhanging trees. Planting, despite being chosen for its ability to attract a wide range of wildlife, also needed to have a long season of interest and to retain some structure through the winter months. Plants were selected to have varying leaf shapes, textures and with rich foliage tints.

In order that the elements were not designed in isolation of each other, an overall vision of how the garden could be developed with embellishments of a feature pot, sculpture and pergola spanning the garden was created. The seating area at the rear of the garden was extended to allow for a more spacious and usable area. The structural planting of the garden needed to be increased with some larger evergreens strategically placed to highlight the new and extended features. This also visually brings the hedges and trees from neighbouring properties into the garden, making the space appear larger than it actually is.

The planting needed to attract wildlife, but hold a long season of visual appeal as it was located in a prominent position