I have just put a water feature in my front garden in a hope to attract
wildlife. Its only small like a half barrel thingamajig with a pump that
circulates the water out of an old water tap/pump handle.

Is there anything I can do to this that will attract wildlife or will the
water just do it for me.

Thanks in advance

On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 00:01:40 +0100, "Jason Scott"
wrote:

I have just put a water feature in my front garden in a hope to attract
wildlife. Its only small like a half barrel thingamajig with a pump that
circulates the water out of an old water tap/pump handle.

Is there anything I can do to this that will attract wildlife or will the
water just do it for me.

Depends how accessible the water is.
If it's at or near ground level then small mammals will find it
useful, particularly in the summer - as will frogs and toads.

Birds will certainly make use of it - but you might need to consider
putting in some sort of a ledge...usually an inch or so below the
surface.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

Jason Scott wrote:
I have just put a water feature in my front garden in a hope to
attract wildlife. Its only small like a half barrel thingamajig with
a pump that circulates the water out of an old water tap/pump handle.

Is there anything I can do to this that will attract wildlife or will
the water just do it for me.

Thanks in advance

The water will do fine for flying things, although 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 and
a ramp or pile of things they can climb outside. that might be a bit
unsightly, so I would stick to a couple of oxygenating plants

Fish look nice, but would eat insect lavae, so think about what you'd like.

In article ,
says...
I have just put a water feature in my front garden in a hope to attract
wildlife. Its only small like a half barrel thingamajig with a pump that
circulates the water out of an old water tap/pump handle.

Is there anything I can do to this that will attract wildlife or will the
water just do it for me.


As well as attracting them, make sure they can climb out again easily.

In article , Jason Scott
writes
I have just put a water feature in my front garden in a hope to attract
wildlife. Its only small like a half barrel thingamajig with a pump that
circulates the water out of an old water tap/pump handle.

Is there anything I can do to this that will attract wildlife or will the
water just do it for me.

1) add a handful of mud from someone's garden pond - this will be full
of invertebrates which are food for other things. Beetles and pond
skaters are fun to watch, snails will deal with algae

2) make sure there is some vegetation cover within easy reach,
preferably right up against the barrel - ie don't surround it completely
with paving (fine to have paving round most of it)

3) make sure you have some way frogs can climb out of it, some sort of
ramp up the side.

4), oh, and you need some pond weed, and also some plant which will
shade the water surface and cut down on blanket weed growth - this could
be either a mini water lily (you need the miniature varieties - the
usual ones are too big) or some other flat leaved water plant like the
scented water hawthorn, or it could be a plant next to the barrel than
leans over and shades it.

Otherwise, it's just a matter of waiting
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

"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
--

"Jason Scott" wrote in message
...
I have just put a water feature in my front garden in a hope to attract
wildlife. Its only small like a half barrel thingamajig with a pump that
circulates the water out of an old water tap/pump handle.

Is there anything I can do to this that will attract wildlife or will the
water just do it for me.

Thanks in advance


define 'wildlife'. Some will like the moving water, some wont.

--
Tumbleweed

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