new pond help

Hi I was inspired by Adam Frost's cattle trough as a water feature which was on GW a few weeks ago but I cant find specific information about how much sun needs to fall on it. I plan to site it at the back of the garden which gets a decent amount of sun in the summer months when the sun is high, but although it is unshaded and bright all year round, it doesn't get full sun on it the rest of the year. Am I ok with this? Rather dreading the NO answer as I seriously dont have anywhere else practical to site it!

 

I didn’t see the programme so I am just imagining that the water trough is one of those galvanised oblong ones that you see everywhere and not some hand carved stone one that you’d need a second mortgage to buy.

Firstly, is it supposed to hold plants or plants and fish? If it’s in the sun will it get hot and unsuitable?
Secondly, is it uniformly deep and if so how will small animals that fall into it get out and live to tell the tale? We have had two baby birds this year wander into our pond for a drink and get temporarily stuck (mentally) as to how to get out again.

 

it is a galvanised cattle water trough. Adam has one so I figured it would be OK and I gather plenty of people do use them as such. No chance of it getting too hot if it is in the shade, (that's my problem) and of course I will put in rocks/bricks outside and in to make a walkway for creatures, and to stand plants on at the right height. Really more concerned that pond plants will survive in this position.

 

Can you half bury it?

 

Don't think that's possible but out of interest would that have any specific benefit??

 

Sorry if I misunderstood, but are you just wanting a pond in a position that isn't full sun? My container pond is like that. If you choose the plants carefully, it is perfectly fine.

 

yep that's the answer I wanted! Thank you so much.

 

It would keep the water cooler if in full sun.

 

some sand and silt or mud will help insects live in it and can secure the plants. if its mostly rain water algae wont grow but also most plants wont like it so a fair bit of tap water once will help. also help with ph.

you want water snails to move in somehow once algae does, a small bucket of canal or river sediment would help kickstart it afterwards. but provided there is an easy way up theyll move in eventually anyway

 

Water Hyacinths will flower well from Spring to Winter even if in a shady situation. Obviously depends on your location tho.
Planting non evergreen around the outside of the trough is advisable if you think it gets too much sun on the metal for a long period of time.

 

There are problems with water hyacinth (assuming Pontederia crassipes is the species referred to above). Firstly it appears to be banned in the UK see link below.
Water hyacinth - Pontederia crassipes | Kew
Also apparently not hardy in the UK.

 

They have changed the name since I tried it years ago, it never grew well for me, so I tend to wonder why its banned as frost kills it.

I did used to have a marginal plant called Pontederia cordata but its very fast growing and hardy.

 

Despite the area of my container pond being partially shaded, I decided to take my chances with a water lily. I was prepared not to get flowers, I would have been OK with just the floating leaves. I did research it and found that James Brydon can be happy with less sun than most. To my surprise, not only did it grow well (I only got it this year, though I had gone for a relatively mature specimen), it also flowered well.

For submerged oxygenating plants I went for hornwort, as it's very robust and can deal with shade.

As it's a small-ish container pond, I added just one marginal plant. I can't remember the official name, but it is referred to as "the optical fibre plants).

At a later stage I added some smaller floating plants.

They are all doing well, but I do have to remove some algae from time to time.

 

I've had ponds in all sorts of sites @adamadamant , including shady ones. It isn't a problem - you just have to choose the right planting for it to get a nice balance.
Water lilies tend not to flower so well if they don't have enough light and warmth though, but it'll depend on the actual site, your location, and the amount of available light/sun etc. I relocated my original pond in this garden so that the water lily had a better position, and it's paid off.
I've had Water hawthorn in every pond I've had - they even manage quite a bit of sun in the current pond, and often seed around. Great for a shadier spot, so they'd be ideal.

 

Apologies to all.......... I actually meant Water hawthorn ........... I only realised when @fairygirl mentioned it that I'd put the wrong thing !!