Is a pond a good idea or not ?

[Gabe]

Will be a hiring a mini digger at some point next spring and thought while I was at it I may as well dig out a pond. My question is this a good idea ? I have always wanted a decent sized one and now have the space to accommodate it. My concerns are two fold; Obviously it will attract nice things to the garden, but will it also attract lots of nasties i.e. mossies etc ?Secondly how often will I have to top it up with water ? We have two supplies to the house, one "potable" and one for the garden which varies in quality, but is relatively cheap and is mainly for irrigation, but does feed the toilet cisterns well. Nevertheless we do not want to have to replace gallons of water each summer. Any views ?

Gabe

[Meg]

We have a large/deep natural pond in our  field which does retain water all summer, although the water level does drop considerably. It is currently still very full though and am using it to water my veggie garden with the help of a petrol pump.. It is not too near the house and surrounded by brambles and trees so i haven't noticed if the mossies are any worse because of the pond. Although we do have lots of dragonflies (see below). I get eaten alive by mossies even when i am not near a pond!!

Some info regarding mossies in ponds!!

'Have moving water in your water garden. Mosquitoes

will not lay eggs in running water. The newly hatched mosquito must

rest on the water’s surface for a few minutes to let its wings

dry. If the water is moving, the female mosquito will not lay eggs

there.

Get some mosquito fish for your pond. Mosquito

fish, or gambusia affinis, are very aggressive predators of mosquito

larvae. They are also aggressive to other fish and will also eat

dragonfly larvae, or nymphs. If mosquito fish are too predatory

for your particular tastes, several other types of fish readily

consume mosquito larvae, such as guppies, killifish, and small goldfish.

Koi are too large and will not target the larvae.

Add Bti to your pond. Bti is a naturally occurring

type of bacillus that is eaten by the mosquito larvae, and rapidly

kills them. It is not harmful to fish, pets, wildlife or humans.

It is sold under such names as Mosquito Dunks, or Mosquito Bits.

Add dragonfly larvae, or nymphs, to your pond. They are voracious predators of mosquito larvae,

and while the mosquito larvae stay in that stage for only a few

days, the dragonfly nymphs stay in the larval stage for up to two

years, and can prey on many generations of mosquito larvae. And,

when they become adults, the dragonfly feeds on adult mosquitoes

too.

Invite toads into your yard. One toad can consume

up to 100 mosquitoes and slugs per night. They lay their eggs in

water, so the pond will attract them. If happy with its environment,

a toad can grace your garden for up to 20 years. And the tadpoles

will eat mosquito larvae also.'

Copied from http://www.whatprice.co.uk/gardening/mosquito.htm

Louise

[Cassis]

Mosquitoes need not be a problem.  Don't let that prospect put you off.  We have a still pond of 2000 sq m.  In two previous summers we never had a mossie problem - may have been the fish, or the numerous swallows and swifts, toads, frogs and dragonflies that the pond attracted.  Rarely saw a mossie.  Unfortunately we have been forced to drain the pond this year in preparation for a major renovation - we will be digging it out in the autumn (the étang is meant to be cleaned every 3-4 years but ours had been left 40 years so was mainly silt, just 20cm of water when full, and it dried out completely last summer).  So we have left just a relatively a small area of water for the frogs and toads etc. and still no mossies.