This very amateur home video ( http://youtu.be/5IGLV1mtgOY ) shows the huge benefits of creating bodies of water in urban environments.
This bathtub pond is actually the water reserve of a vertical garden located in Melbourne, that we are using to trial new plants. As you can see, many edible plants are planted in the pond, Lebanese celery, water cress, duck potatoes, brahmi, gotta cola, water pennywort, and a lot more… There is also a healthy population of fish and snails to keep it clean, fertile and free of mosquitoes.
The water is pumped up the vertical garden a few minutes every hour during the day. This garden is one of our own prototype, so please excuse the messy look of the pipes and so on, it is not really meant to be seen!
This specific vertical garden has been running for over a year, WITHOUT any nutrient solution. You might notice, some plants are show signs of deficiency, the strawberries mostly, but most are doing surprisingly well.
Why?
We think the huge population of invertebrates and birds that line up for a drink contribute a substantial amount of nutrients to the system by their droppings. Occasionally small insects drown in the pond too, are eaten by the fish and returned to the water.
On a hot day like the day we shot this clip (well over 35 Celsius in the sun), the number of bees visiting the pond is impressive. Thousands of flights to carry a fraction of a millilitre to the hive, must add up to quite a few litres a day!
Lining up for a drink...
Close up on our little friend drinking
Look at the activity in the air near the "drinking spot" chosen by the bees. Interestingly they pretty much all land on that specific area.
Careful there!
Please note that this sort of concentration of bees is far from usual, mostly in an urban environment. We do have a hive, sitting about 5 meters from this pond!
Visit our Rain fed pond page for more on the benefits of ponds and bodies of water in urban environments.
Don’t miss our Vertical gardens page for more on… Vertical gardens!