BES Facebook pageManagement of your Pond
Once you have constructed your pond, stocked it with appropriate plants and wildlife is appearing everyday, you want to be able to keep it that way. The simplest solution with wildlife ponds is to do little and often. In most cases only an occasional quick tidy up of the plants will be required as the pond will establish a natural equilibrium.
If taking any material out of the pond, please check it carefully for any animals and return them to pond gently. You should leave the material close to the pond edge for 24 hours so that any remaining trapped animals can return to the water.
A useful link for pond management can be found at http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/2453
Pond Time Line
If any work is to be done on ponds then care should be taken to avoid sensitive time periods. The following is provided as a brief guide to amphibian life cycles and times to avoid working on your pond.
This isn’t a definitive amphibian time line as events will vary greatly with environmental conditions.
| Month | Amphibian Events |
| January | |
| February | Frogs and Newts emerge from hibernation. Frog spawning begins |
| March | Toads emerge from hibernation and begin breeding season |
| April | Newts breeding season and end of frog spawning |
| May | |
| June | |
| July | Newts, frogs and toads leave the pond |
| August | |
| September | |
| October | Frogs and Toads Hibernate |
| November | Newts Hibernate |
| December |
For the majority of invertebrates , most breeding and egg laying will occur early in the year. Some juvenile stages will be found all year round and over winter but most will be found from August onwards.
Cleaning/maintenance
Very little maintenance is needed but if have to do work then early autumn before harsh frosts and late winter are the best times. There should be no work on the pond during summer unless absolutely necessary. During the autumn trees and bushes will shed their leaves, these will have to be removed to prevent them decomposing in the water. This is simply done using a net. If it is a smaller pond then it will have to be managed during the autumn to ensure that it is not overgrown by plants.
Any material removed from the pond should be piled by the pond for 24 hours so any animals can get back to the pond. Don’t leave the material any longer though as it will begin to decompose and nutrients will leach into the water.
A more in depth maintenance plan can be found at:
http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/2454
Ice
During the winter the pond may ice over. Many hibernating amphibians and submerged plants draw their oxygen from the water. With the supply cut off by the ice they will die. The best solution is either to break the ice each day or to anchor a football or other floating object that will prevent the ice forming around it. This can then just be moved and placed back at the end of the day.
Algal growth and blooms
One of the oldest methods of controlling algae in ponds is to put untreated barley straw into the pond. This is an environmentally friendly way to keep algae growth down. During the month of February to April the straw should be placed in the highest oxygenated area of the pond for maximum effect. The straw must be near the top level of the water to have maximum effect, artificial buoyancy aids can be attached and to keep it in place anchor it to the bottom of the pond using a weight. This can be done routinely from year to year even if there is no bloom then it will act as a magnet for invertebrates.
More advice can be found on the Royal Horticultural Website below.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0500/algae.asp
Do not use chemicals in a wildlife pond to remove algae
