Is this site suitable?

[boodysaspie]

I have a "raised bed" 2.7m x 1m. One long wall and one short wall are blockwork; the other short wall edges a lawn and the other long wall is against my neighbour's fence.

It is sheltered, and realistically only gets sun in the summer evenings (ATM it has aucuba, aquilegia, maidenhair fern and pyracantha growing in it). Half a garage roof drains into it.

I am not a keen gardener! nor do I have a huge budget so I'm looking for something "natural" which more-or-less looks after itself and will help wildlife. There are several local cats, so even if the pond size were not a problem I think fish would be out of the question.

Ideas gratefully received, or should I leave the aucuba and friends in peace?

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Are you talking about turning this spot into a wildlife pond, or just for aquatic plants? Pictures might help us.

 

[j.w]

@boodysaspie
That would make a nice spot for a wildlife frog type pond.

 

[brokensword]

I have a "raised bed" 2.7m x 1m. One long wall and one short wall are blockwork; the other short wall edges a lawn and the other long wall is against my neighbour's fence.

It is sheltered, and realistically only gets sun in the summer evenings (ATM it has aucuba, aquilegia, maidenhair fern and pyracantha growing in it). Half a garage roof drains into it.

I am not a keen gardener! nor do I have a huge budget so I'm looking for something "natural" which more-or-less looks after itself and will help wildlife. There are several local cats, so even if the pond size were not a problem I think fish would be out of the question.

Ideas gratefully received, or should I leave the aucuba and friends in peace?

I'd be leery of putting any pond structure against a neighbor's fence as either YOU might need to access it or your neighbor and that might cause issues. I'd keep it a distance away, esp if you need to maintain anything around the pond. I'd also want to know if the rain off the roof is carrying anything toxic into the pond. Fish probably would be fine; not many 'cat got my fish' stories that I've heard of, anyway. Raccoons, mink, otter, heron, water snake, snapping turtles--those are the usual suspects.