A home garden can be a lovely oasis, providing food, scenery, and sometimes wildlife viewing. One gardening expert shared how to create a cute barrel pond in your yard.
Jamie Walton (@nettlesandpetals) is a skilled grower, sharing his tips for creating lush, productive, and sustainable gardens. In one clip, he shows followers how he turned an unloved section of his garden into a beautiful wildlife pond.
He started the process by cleaning the area of debris and digging a hole big enough to fit a large half barrel. Next, he added some stones around the edge of the barrel to "offer wildlife both a place to hide and to allow them to get in and out of the pond." He then added some woodchips and new plants around the soon-to-be little oasis.
Jamie then filled the barrel with rain water he had collected in a water butt. He prefers rainwater because "mains water contains additives such as chlorine that can negatively impact the pond."
To create a wildlife-friendly pond he adds some aquatic plants, using native plants and plants that will add oxygen to the water. Finally, he adds some rocks for animals to perch on and a couple of decorative details. "And within only a couple of days, it was already welcoming its first visitors." His first visitor was a new frog neighbor.
Features like a small wildlife-friendly pond are a great way to make your yard more beneficial to your local ecosystem. Making changes to your home to make it more eco-friendly is often called rewilding, and not only is it good for the environment, but it can also cut back on your lawn care and water bills.
According to our guide on rewilding, "Even if you spend $1,000 on native plants and landscaping materials like mulch, you'll reap profits over time thanks to annual savings of $275 on water, $50 on fertilizer, and $50 on pesticides and weed control."
Home gardeners in the comments were charmed by this transformation. One person said: "I love this so much! I want to create something like this in my garden. Thanks for sharing."
Someone else wrote: "What a beautiful transformation."
Another viewer commented: "Wow you've completely inspired me after wishing to do something similar for so long but without quite knowing how or where to start. Thank you ever so much for your guide."
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