Genesis in your Garden

Creation Care Officer Marcus Zipperlen extols the virtues of pond life

One afternoon when I was working at the Centre for Alternative Technology near Machynlleth, the TV show Cash in the Attic came to film an episode. As resident biologist I was asked to provide advice on how to create a wildlife pond to the show’s participant that week, an actor who had sold some family heirlooms to raise money for a substantial pond at his home near Welshpool.

We wandered around the various wetlands at the Centre discussing the rudiments of pond creation, and he went off to have a go at his place. I hope it all worked out for him - I never did discover. But I wholeheartedly recommend doing something similar yourself, and you won’t need to sell an heirloom to do so.

With a biodiversity crisis gripping the planet (in other words, with us humans rapidly destroying God’s beloved creatures and their homes), opportunities to restore ecological Shalom should be taken when they come, and ponds are one of the best ways to boost wildlife in your garden.

It will involve a little digging, so find a fit youngster to help if needs be. You’ll need a deep spot of a good three feet, some shelves with different depths, and one shallow ‘beach’ area to help wildlife access the water. You’ll need a pond liner, some sand underneath to cushion it, and some aquatic compost and native pond-plants to establish.

Fill with tap water and wait. It will turn green with algae in a few days and then the aquatic mini-beasts begin to turn up. You will attract mosquito larvae but, don’t worry, these become food for dragonfly and damselfly nymphs, and so the great food chain begins.

Come spring, frogs (and possibly toads) will likely arrive and your nascent pond ecosystem becomes home to an incredible recapitulation of the life-journey of land creatures. The fish-like tadpoles swap their gills for lungs and tails for legs and walk up the ‘beach’ you made to inhabit the land; God’s incredibly patient and beautiful stages of creation through evolution occurring before your eyes over a few weeks. Incredible!

For details of the practicalities of pond creation there are lots of places to consult, such as The Royal Horticultural Societies website ( https://www.rhs.org.uk/ponds/wildlife-ponds ). You’ll be re-creating one of Britain’s most ecologically diverse and rarest habitats, and potentially one of the most beautiful corners of your garden. Why not have a go?