Benefits of A Pond
There are many benefits to having a pond. Not least of these of course is that it adds interest to your garden and a focal point, but also it is very good for wildlife.If you have frogs and newts in your area (and they are in most places in the UK) then before long you should find that some find their way into your pond, at which point you can enjoy the annual process of frogspawn, tadpoles, and then seeing the little frogs that they develop into!
If you have fish, then you can also keep for instance goldfish in a fishpond. Depending on how much food there is in the pond naturally (it takes time to build up) then you can leave them pretty much unfed during Summer and Autumn, then feed them through the Winter and the start of the Spring too.
Goldfish are useful for eating the small insect larva and so on that build up in the pond from gnats lying their eggs and the like; if you keep goldfish then you should ensure the water is of good quality and clean - a fountain can help with aeration here, but most of all you will find that pond weed or oxygenating plants of some kind are essential to stop the water going stagnant or green.
Sadly if you have goldfish and don't want them to be eaten, it may be worth considering covering the pond with some sort of mesh that is as see through as possible so that it doesn't spoil your viewing - and with gaps at the edge of course for wildlife like frogs to still get in and out.
Some people with ponds report a range of problems, from cats trying to grab the goldfish out the pond, and sometimes succeeding, but also other opportunists: it may sound rare, but in many areas herons have learned to fly over gardens and come down and eat the bright and easy to see goldfish, so if you want to keep your goldfish safe from these and other predators then it is best to cover the pond.
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