Personally, I think it is a good idea. We need those "critters" to keep the environment going.

I have a grey garden water outlet that comes out of my house and I was thinking of putting it into a small pond to clean it first.

I have 4 fishless watergardens. PKponder has a few also, in addition to pond(s) with fish. My tiny water gardens are big pots with a pump. My small ponds are 250 gal stock tank and a 600 gallon in ground. I dont' fuss with pumps or any kind of equipment. After the initial mosquito dunks to control wigglers to start, the predatory bugs took over mosquito control. I check to make sure I'm not breeding mosquitos about once a week and don't find any. Some people use mosquito fish but I don't want anything to eat my tadpoles or dragonfly nymphs. I have about 20-50 dragonflies hanging around my backyard from late spring until late fall. It also attracts backyard birds. Blue jays, cardinals, painted buntings, Thrashers, Grackles, red and yellow finch. Fishless ponds don't attract the bigger water birds for long. I saw a Heron and an Igret once,but they didn't come back when they saw my pitiful lack of tasty Koi.

The herons are at my very low big pond trying to catch all the fish they can.

I am almost through with a small shallow still water pond.
Yesterday I was taking a few pictures to send to my son and got lucky. This litttle bird was there.

PJ: send dragonflies!

Poor Carrie!

Nice bird pictures! My birds come out, wait for me to run for the camera, then vanish just to be irritating. I have pics of the dragonflies but can get a couple dragonflies at a time. I can't capture all of them flying around looking amazing.

Kathy, that is beautiful, and isn't it so rewarding when the birds and other creatures of nature respond to it???
I have had so many differnt colors of dragonflies this year, they are one of my very favorites.

I think the consensus is "YES!" :-)

You should have seen me sitting on my cart using the "claw" and a hoe. It took me about a week to dig the hole. Glad I wanted a shallow pond :^) It is appx. 12' x 4'

A bluejay has now discovered the pond. And lots of grackles. They really are fun to watch.

Does anyone know what that little bird is?

Our little pond has been the BEST addition to my garden. It provides water for various animals and a soothing sound for this weary gardener.
Please excuse the huge photo size, but I could not resize it in photobucket.

I love it, and everything around it!

Me,too..............looks so soothing.

Here's the "bigger pond":
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I love that watergarden jardin. It's the perfect mix of natural looking and style.

As you can see (liner is visible) my pond is 3/4 finished. I'm going to have overhanging plants hide the liner instead of rocks. The grass holding the dirt in place will be replaced by aggressive bog/poor drainage plants. I'm also going to trim the pot rims (plain black pots from nursery) so they are underwater. It's a very shallow 11" deep.

Kathy, jardieratx, PJ - Those are all great ponds. Thanks for showing them.

Ditto what Shirley said. I love ponds, but don't have one. Thanks to all of your for inspiring me by showing yours. I'm thinking of how and where I might fit one in. I'd love it for the dragon flies if nothing else. Great photos of your dragon flies!

Thanks Roselee, too bad you can't see the ones in flight. They're too quick for my camera. I spotted a glimpse of a blue dragon to the left of the dragon on the stick, but it's a tiny blur of motion.
This isn't a decorative pond altho I hope to make it pretty soon. It's a rainwater run off from the right side of my house. It can hold 2k gallons before the swale fills up with about 300 gals. then runs off into the street. It's only rained enough for street run off a couple times in the last 3 years. This summer I had to top it off about 1" a week.

PJ, what plants grow around/in your ponds?

Plantmaven, I think that little beauty is a Nashville Warbler.

Carla in Rowlett, TX

Carla! Thanks. After googling warblers, I agree. ^)

Kathy

Plantmaven, whatever will grow! lol. Cannas, obedient plant, frog's fruit, containered willows,containered cattails, lousiana iris and taro. I'm going to try TX star hibiscus toward the top. I know it can handle a bog but not sure about submerged periodically. I also have a swamp rose at the very top. It's mad that I transplanted it but coming back. ALL of these plants (except the TX star) are VERY aggressive. I have containered pickerel weed and some water lilies in the water.

Thanks PJ.

Kathy

I wouldn't where I live. We're pretty much desert now...if it gets worse, who knows? But I'm thinking about a bird bath.

Linda, where do you live in Texas?

My mom had one in the Mojave desert. You have to put it in a protected spot under a pergola, by a tree, or in a protective "nook" around your house(an area that's blocked from the elements sort of thing). Due to the heat fish get very tricky. A You're less likely to get your pond decimated by wildlife tho. A barrel pond is good for a regularly pruned plant and a small fountain.