Small ponds for biodiversity in the garden

It is known that our gardens, whether small or large, benefit from encouraging greater biodiversity.

Each additional species adds complexity to your little ecosystem and stabilizes it.

A species alone can multiply unchecked (aphids, slugs, crane flies, etc.), but the presence of its predators or other competing species keeps it in check. The more complex a system is, the more stable it is. And the harder it is for a single species, animal or plant, to take over the entire space!

For years, permaculture has emphasized one principle: there is no truly rich environment in diversity, because it is the "interfaces" between environments where species are most numerous: the edge of a forest, the bank of a pond, the water surface, the base of a hedge… It is the borders between two environments that must be multiplied as much as possible.

And what is missing in our gardens is precisely the border between water and earth, or water and air.
Even in a very small garden or vegetable patch, the presence of a tiny water spot is enough to greatly increase the number of species present.
A micro-pond attracts toads and frogs, even newts. Toads roam the vegetable patch at night in search of slugs and insects.
Birds will come to drink, and you will do them a great service. They will thank you by nibbling the caterpillars on your cabbages!

Aquatic plants bloom abundantly, such as water mint or purple loosestrife, and attract bees and bumblebees of all kinds, which will pollinate your courgettes or fruit trees!

To prevent the water from "stagnating" (eutrophication), you will introduce some oxygenating plants (hornwort, naiad or myriophyllum) and add some daphnia and ostracods to populate the environment, and especially water lice that will eat fallen leaves.

And why not floating plants, like Azolla or duckweed? If they multiply too much, you can remove a few handfuls to place at the base of your vegetables!

This water spot, even tiny, will attract all kinds of dragonflies that will lay eggs there, and whose larvae will eliminate mosquito larvae.
The adults will catch flies and various flying insects. Watching them will delight you!

A simple plastic bin, or even a large bucket, buried in the heart of the vegetable patch or garden is more than enough.
You can use the Zollabox Starter to bring it to life, then install the plants you like, submerged or emerged.
Just be sure to maintain the water level during heatwaves, and consider placing a branch or small board in it to prevent a hedgehog or a bold bird from drowning, unable to get out of the water on its own.

Your micro, mini, or even large pond will bring life you never suspected, useful to your garden and vegetable patch, and above all fascinating to watch evolve through the seasons, for both young and old.