How to attract dragonflies to your pond?

[Onyxlinkia]

Interesting.....thanks for sharing

Dragonflies have been around my pond since the first day I filled it with water. However, I did have issues keeping them around the pond for more than 30 second intervals. To solve this I cut three long straight branches off one my crapemyrtle and put them on the far side of the pond sticking up above all my plants. Now the dragon flies stick around for half an hour landing on those sticks and flying around the pond. Horse rush is great too. Now that mine is grown to 2 feet they use that alot.

 

[KC Crook]

Dragonflies lay their eggs by finding a plant stalk that extends below the surface of the water, and they dip their abdomen down and lay their eggs on that plant stalk below the water. So, if you can provide that environment for them, Im sure they will come. I believe their larvae are as voracious as they are too, take minnows and tadpoles.

 

[Onyxlinkia]

Good point. I'm going to put in pot of horsetail reeds and see if they will show up

Dragonflies lay their eggs by finding a plant stalk that extends below the surface of the water, and they dip their abdomen down and lay their eggs on that plant stalk below the water. So, if you can provide that environment for them, Im sure they will come. I believe their larvae are as voracious as they are too, take minnows and tadpoles.

 

[lillysbaba]

My grandma called them darning needles. I was also told they would sew your mouth shut.

OMG!! My father told me the same thing when I was four and I was terrified of them for years!

 

[lillysbaba]

We have had our 5X 17 foot 4 foot deep pond for 12 years and have had dragonflies from the beginning. I think that they are attracted to moving water because they play with the water coming out of the hose when I water plants and they "dip" their tails into the waterfall. Sometimes they will even land on our fingers when we are in the pool and hold up a pointed finger. Every year in May the large red dragonflies appear; those guys are really spectacular to see.
It is definitely one of the rewards for all of the work of keeping a pond.
Think if you had some water movement you would see dragonflies; pond size shouldn't matter.

 

[Sarcasticshrub]

They tend to enjoy the horsetails in my pond. Flitting from one batch of plants to another, stopping for a drink, then back at it.

 

[Jerri]

This may be a silly question but I would like to attract dragonflies to my pond. My pond is a small one and it's about 4 months old now, haven't seen a dragonfly around here

They come at certain times of the year- usually summer and late afternoon. I live in Florida so the mosquitos are free range. To control blood suckers, they are the food for dragons, mosquito fish do the trick, they eat them too, but in the swimming state. "Dunks" work too and won't hurt your fish or plants. There is a company you can buy insects, I used to buy lady bugs for my garden and fruit trees and wasps for flies for the horses.
I dont remember the name but with google that shouldn't be a problem. If it is, Horse Supply was the company who ran the ads in their magazine, should still be on their website. They ship usually in pupae state, so the bugs are not harmed-with full directions. Dragons love clover, lots of it and stick plants or a little fence(border) but dark colors-enjoy, take pics, from 20,000 gallons to You!

 

[Richardspond]

I had a swarm yesterday all colors all sizes. My dog was snapping at them. They were everywhere

 

[Graham Griggs]

Hi I am a new member from England

I have two problems that maybe you guys can help with if you would be so kind.

I am of retirement age and have moved to a small property where I only have room for a pond about 10ft by 8. I plan to build it in an "E" shape where the left hand side is about 3 ft deep, and the right hand side is a "swamp", and the middle one in between, Hopefully to attract wildlife of all sorts, I already have foxes, bats, squirrels lots of different birds including robins, gold finches, mistle thrushes, starlings,doves, pigeons, and one bewildered dog. The surrounding garden is chemical free.

I have had several ponds before and I am used to pond chemistry, filters etc. but I must admit I do not know how to build this one.

First question how to waterproof it, it is far too convoluted for a liner. Can I use fibre glass? rubber strips? I don't know..

Secondly where do I get dragonflies, mayflies, hedgehogs etc to stock my environmentally friendly garden (I am UK based, please don't recommend US suppliers)

 

[Graham Griggs]

This may be a silly question but I would like to attract dragonflies to my pond. My pond is a small one and it's about 4 months old now, haven't seen a dragonfly around here

You will need to buy eggs - try ebay

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I know I'm late to this thread, but I also specifically wanted dragonflies attracted to my pond, and I'm in town, nowhere near any other body of water. I did some research on the matter, and as others have mentioned, plant stalks coming up out of the water is key. They really seem to like any kind of grasses growing in the water. Lots of vertical grasses. It took a couple years, but the more the plants filled in, the more dragonflies I saw. Because of the odd weather this year, it's still a little too early for them, but I'm sure I'll be seeing swarms again within the month. They are now regular visitors to the pond every year.

The one thing I *haven't* been able to attract is local frogs.

 

[Richardspond]

My swarm came back yesterday and visited different plants, skim the water stuck around a few minutes and took off

 

[Onyxlinkia]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience. I've finally put in a pot of horsetail reeds in the pond, now it's a waiting game to see if they will show up.

 

[Onyxlinkia]

Guess what? I get first dragon fly visit to my pond today, big fat red one, yay!

 

[CometKeith]

Congrats! I don't see a lot of dragonflies but I do get some really pretty neon colored damselflies. It's important to leave some algae and other organic matter alone where they might lay their eggs. Also their babies can get caught in skimmers and filters pretty easily.