Hello All!
Ever since I moved into my current house (22 years) there has been what looks to be an old hot water tank or similar full of perfectly clear water. It only fills from (falling) rain water, nothing else runs into it and it is never treated or attended to in any way. I think its made of aluminium and is 2 ft x 3 ft x 18 inches deep.
Originally it had a water lily (not potted) - which also simply thrived with zero maintenance. When we 'improved' the patio my wife ordered it to be got rid of. That required emptying it - in doing so plenty of small pond wildlife was discovered (frogs). It now lives in a more secluded part of the garden in partial shade of a large mature rambling rose. It's been like that for probably 12 years - there is some sediment of course in the bottom from falling leaves and petals - which never seems to get any thicker and I know there are frogs in there.
It appears to me that its a completely self-maintaining natural native ecosystem and I call it my frog hotel. When I first moved in I was expecting it would not stay like that without intervention of some kind by me - it would algae over, need some kind of 'weeding', a treatment or filtering etc... at some point. That has never been the case - it's like it is (minus manually removed water lily) for 23 years.
I have often wondered if I could make it more than just a frog hotel - maybe reintroduce another water lily or (advice appreciated) another kind of pond plant (note - the goal would not be decorative, it would be to encourage / introduce native species of amphibian and maybe even small fish. I would want it to continue to be zero maintenance.
My question then is - is the above scenario commonplace for such a small, standing water vessel (I am just interested in what makes it so maintenance free) and does anyone have any thoughts / advice on the introduction of additional flora and fauna?
I would much appreciate anyone's insight into this!
Thanks in advance.
Ever since I moved into my current house (22 years) there has been what looks to be an old hot water tank or similar full of perfectly clear water. It only fills from (falling) rain water, nothing else runs into it and it is never treated or attended to in any way. I think its made of aluminium and is 2 ft x 3 ft x 18 inches deep.
Originally it had a water lily (not potted) - which also simply thrived with zero maintenance. When we 'improved' the patio my wife ordered it to be got rid of. That required emptying it - in doing so plenty of small pond wildlife was discovered (frogs). It now lives in a more secluded part of the garden in partial shade of a large mature rambling rose. It's been like that for probably 12 years - there is some sediment of course in the bottom from falling leaves and petals - which never seems to get any thicker and I know there are frogs in there.
It appears to me that its a completely self-maintaining natural native ecosystem and I call it my frog hotel. When I first moved in I was expecting it would not stay like that without intervention of some kind by me - it would algae over, need some kind of 'weeding', a treatment or filtering etc... at some point. That has never been the case - it's like it is (minus manually removed water lily) for 23 years.
I have often wondered if I could make it more than just a frog hotel - maybe reintroduce another water lily or (advice appreciated) another kind of pond plant (note - the goal would not be decorative, it would be to encourage / introduce native species of amphibian and maybe even small fish. I would want it to continue to be zero maintenance.
My question then is - is the above scenario commonplace for such a small, standing water vessel (I am just interested in what makes it so maintenance free) and does anyone have any thoughts / advice on the introduction of additional flora and fauna?
I would much appreciate anyone's insight into this!
Thanks in advance.