"Robert E A Harvey" wrote in
:

you might want to add
some small plants to make it a more complete ecosystem - make sure you
pick things that won't grow too much. You may get some dragon flies
and the like. Frogs and Toads need access: a way in and out of the
water inside

You can do plants and exit route at once if you plant a small iris or
something in a tall pot, mound some pebbles in the top of the pot out of
the water, then stand the pot on an inverted basket in the water.

Something like this
\/

| Plant sticks out of top
|oo|o ________| pebbles in top of pot let frogs climb out
|| | | and hide pot rim, which is just below water
||_ _| | Pot of compost/soil to feed iris
|/ \ |
||____|_______| supporting basket with hole to let crawlies in.

Using a basket at the bottom means you can use a smallish pot on the top
but still keep a reasonable amount of water for in the barrel rather
than just soil.

You want a black plastic pot for the iris: stick pale pebbles on the top
and it will not be visible unless you look really hard.

I've done this and it worked very well.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
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