How to Make a Wildlife Barrel Pond 

Very inspiring. Liked and subscribed. Two tiny requests: Please ditch the backing music so we can hear the birds, and get yourself a lapel mike. Thanks. 👍

I made one and it's already attracting dragonflies, the likes of which I have never seen. One was fire-engine red - found out later it's called a red darter. It scared me at first, I thought it was one of those new killer hornets or some such. Haven't seen any wildlife but the regular birds seem to enjoy it, and I love the variety of plants with their cool names - lizard's tail, horsetail reeds, corkscrew rush, hornworts!

This is so helpful if you've never made a little pond before. I especially liked the plant advice - which made it easy to order just the right thing. Thanks for passing on your knowledge and enthusiasm.

Your dog coming in to say Hello is so sweet to me. 7:26

My barrel arrived today 💃 Now to obtain plants & an escape stick! Super video thank you 🌻

Thankyou for the inspiration to create a wildlife pond. I’ve taken your advice and planted up my butler sink and it’s fab . Thankyou x

I'm not sure if you have done this, but is it possible to do a quick update video on this barrel, or a video on one that is older and well established? Thanks for the content! **NVM found another comment asking the same thing and found the video.

Thanks Joel. Saw you on Middle Sized Garden and been inspired to build a barrel pond. I can't believe I've never realised how important they are. Many thank s.

26 dislikes??? What's not to like? Good work sir. I like how you always show a common lizard in the intro and emphasise the importance of amphibians. As a keen herpetologist I always appreciate it when other RU-vidrs encourage their viewers to look after our native herpetofauna.

So excited to make a wildlife barrel! I have a small yard so this is perfect. Thank you!!!

I’ve put water mint and cardinal flower on edge of a small dam in front paddock, both doing great and the cardinal has shot up and is quite large, when dam was full had lots of frogs and a crane bird 😮 love bringing wildlife even into my little 3.5 acres, thanks for the video Joel, very informative

Hello Joel, loved your video and has given me the appreciation of how to get my barrel started as a pond.

Love your videos, so informative and inspiring. We started gardening to attract birds and bees and after watching you we thought we might as well' go the whole hog' and try to attract other wildlife also. We've already put in a small prefabricated wildlife pond after watching you build a (bigger) one, at the bottom end of the garden and now, after watching this, went out and bought a barrel and some more plants for nearer the house so we can hopefully enjoy watching other little creatures. Can't wait till summer to see what comes along. BTW, was talking to the man in the garden centre today and he was saying there has been a huge jump over the last year in the number of people buying ponds and plants so that's encouraging. Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more videos by you.

This is perfect. I bought a barrel late last year so I am now looking forward to creating my own wildlife haven in my garden. thank you.❤️🙏

Excellent video. Thanks so much for this! You have inspired me to install one of these in my garden, as I live in a rented property and just thought I couldn’t have a pond. Now I’m very excited to learn that I can! 😊

I love your work and Sir David Attenborough. He is my hero

I'm so glad I've found this video! Think I've watched it 5 or 6 times already! I'm just setting up a water bowl and this video has been invaluable in helping my choose which plants to buy. Keep up the good work Joel, love the channel and trying to incorporate your suggestions in to the garden.

This is so nice! I can't wait to make this in my garden and attract lots of wildlife!

Hey, I haven’t commented on any of your vids in a while but I’d just like to let you know I made a barrel pond in my garden yesterday and was totally inspired by your vid. Thx for making such awesome vids!

This is so inspiring! I have my half barrel and excite to get started in a few weeks

Thanks for the video! You made it look so simple. We went to our local shop and got everything we needed to set one up and it looks incredible! Can't wait to see what wildlife we manage to attract.

Wow this was so soothing to watch. Thanks for the tip with the stick.

Thank you!! This is exactly what I needed to see! You made my day!

Wonderful. Luv all the clear steps and materials listed to make this pond. I really want a small pond, and I thought I would be way more complicated and expensive. Thank you 🤗🌱

Got really really excited yesterday when I noticed a happy little frog has made my barrel pond their home :)

Observing the background in the videos I do feel like you live in countryside. What more a person wants other than such beautiful garden and free from polluted areas. Keep maintaining the surroundings beautiful.

Thanks for this. I made mine last weekend here in England. Just waiting for some wildlife to show up now! Can't wait to sit in the evening summer sun with a beer and watch things come and go.

Thank you for your video - the set up you created is beaut! I’ve just bought the plants you shown. I’m off to woods to collect a few dropped branches - So excited to get our pond set up 🐸🐞🐝🦋🪲

Thanks for the clear explanation of planting and plant choices. I just came home with four half barrels to add to our small pond as that's so popular and full of oxy weed that the birds like standing on for safe bathing as no local cats can get them surrounded by water. We have 8 frogs every feb so now we want to extend to damsel flies etc which your ideas will help.

Thank you sooo much for sharing this. Its fantastic and has given me perfect ideas for my container pond x

Thoroughly enjoyed watching that and when I get my garden up to scratch, that will be the next thing I do

I had no luck at all last summer with fiber optic grass in my pond; it all just melted away. But the irises are great for the water!

Arey dami dami👍

Thanks for the video. I use a solar powered pump in my mini pond. It works very well. Just to have a little water movement.

Fab video. So clear and helpful. I can't wait to get started.

Today I bought most of the items, tommorow I ll finish. Cant wait😁😁❤️

Thank you so much for posting these fabulous videos Joel. We have a very small garden in a rented property. After watching this video I was inspired to have a go - and we now have two barrels. They give us so much pleasure and we were really excited when the frogs moved in for the summer last year. Surprisingly I have developed a fascination with freshwater invertebrates (land-based creepy crawlies make me shudder). We're very much looking forward to seeing what happens in them this year. THANK YOU :)

This makes it look so easy, I'm definitely going to give a small barrel pond a go 👍atb

Fantastic video. Tried this out a few weeks ago and all was well but now have green algae growing. I'm going to try and get some more oxygenating plants and some of those snails this week. Hopefully all I need to keep under control. Lovi g the feature in our garden. Thanks

LOVE THIS

I've never thought to use a barrel and as it happens I've moved one of my conifers into a bigger barrel ! The one left over will be perfect . Thanks for the video ❤

I've only found your brilliant channel after setting up my balcony pond. But turns out, it fits your advice quite well. Marsh marigold, water forget-me-not & marsh cinquefoil in the back, a yellow iris a little deeper in the water, small white water lily (Nymphaea tetragona) and european frog-bit for coverage and of course hornwort. I don't expect many newts or frogs on my balcony, but the insects, snails and (not exactly wildlife) medaka quite like it. With the fish in there, I put an extra layer of small lava rock at the bottom to increase the surface area for bacteria.

Brilliant..thankyou Joel..i am definitely going to get a barrel pond..🐸🐝🐞🐜🌾

What an informative video, thank you, I would love to have a barrel pond, I will do this one day, thank you, here's to nature and everything wonderful living thing♥️

Very nice; love to see you do this as a bog filter for a pond together with the necessary plumbing?

Great video, thank you. I’ve got a half barrel ready for this season 👍

I love it :-) Been watching a ton of your videos and my own little garden here in Copenhagen has begun a wonderful transformation. Thank you! ❤️

Cool!😊

God Bless you and your family .. Bravo .Very nice ...Heart Touching.....

Great idea! 💜

I’m totally making one of these!

I've been gifted the smallest ever Belfast sink in the world. It had a fern growing in it which I've repotted. Your video was very useful . I think I'm going to have to buy all miniature plants. Thank you for your tips.

Beautiful really beautiful 💜💜💜💜💜

Hey Joel, I bought a container the other day and added water and some plants and already got another container! I love it. I have been looking at a lot of your videos. Charleston, South Carolina. United States

Lovely video. This is just what I’ve been wanting to do. Great help to me!

This is great can’t wait to make my own 👏

So inspired by your easy to understand video. Thank you and can’t wait to create one.

. I have a big pond, but wouldn't mind having a "barrel pond" so pretty!! .❤️

Can wait to do this come spring! Any advice for overwintering the plants in zone 7?

perfect ,, excellent .. great bosque .. I really like inspiration ...

Im inspired to watch your every videos now I'm working for making wonderful garden including pond for wildlife species which is significant for ecosystem.

Hello, I am french, my English is not super extra good but I love those videos. I planned to recreate this barrel pond on my new terrace. I wonder if it could be possible to get a written list of what it used/needed because it's really hard for me to catch just by listening. Thank you soon much for those amazing videos 🥰

Was trying to decide if to use my half barrel for veg or plants this year then I came across this👍 thanks for the inspiration, plants and everything ordered really looking forward to making a wee pond.

Excellent step by step instructions

Wonderful, thank you :)

Starting one barrel pond next week. This video was very helpful. I hope to attract a lot of different animals. Much love.

Love watching your videos , I have one wildlife pond which is currently teeming with thousands of tadpoles & plan to do another wildlife pond at the end of my garden as I have a colony of slow worms - & even though I have a large garden I just have to get a barrel pond too :)

Great video!

I wish he would do more ASRM wild life stuff

Joel, enjoy both your pond and barrel videos. Keep making nature better. The pushback I get when talking to others about these pond ideas is mosquitos. How do you manage keeping mosquito population under control in these still water ponds?

Thanks Joel, for reminding me I want one of these. I live near Toronto and it gets down as low as minus 25 some days in the winter.Would the plants survive for the following Spring in those temperatures in a barrel? I’ve ordered over 80 10cm native plants (thanks to your inspiration) to put in my little patch (picking them up next Saturday) , and some them are wet or bog loving plants, So I can put them in the barrel. I’ve inherited a huge log on the property (probably 2 metres long by 60cm across) I think that will be good up against the barrel for creatures to get in and I put a piece of driftwood inside for them to get out. Can’t wait to get my hands dirty.

Hello I just came across your video and really enjoyed it. I have 4 container ponds and two in ground ponds and I got some great ideas from you. Thank you. In the barrel pond, what was the last plant you added that came from another pond? I did not catch the name of it. I have koi in my inground ponds and just plants in the container ponds and I get a lot of various insects. I have a blink camera on the pond and am able to see who visits in the night. I enjoy every aspect of pond gardening. Thanks for all of the good information and I look forward to watching more of your videos. I live in the beautiful Willamette Valley in Oregon.

Hi. Thanks for the videos. Your channel is great. I’m sorry if this is explained in the video and I missed it, but what sort of maintenance is required for this? I’ve seen anecdotal reports of people ending up with rancid barrels of foul liquid acting as more of a biohazard than wildlife haven!

Your garden is so beautiful

My 2 barrels arrived today :) Fab video very informative, just a little quiet with the volume.

Super!

I'm in New Zealand. How can I avoid a plague of mosquitoes in a barrel pond. Loving your channel and really enjoying encouraging wildlife to our garden. Our grandkids have helped with the pond, insect hotels, lizard lounge and a butterfly beach is next on the list🙂

Fantastic channel. Have a very similar barrel prepped and ready to go. I've been wondering whether there's an alternative to installing bricks for elevation to free up space in the pond. I was thinking either pond safe adhesive or hollowed out square planters so they act more like a four legged underwater pillar. Any suggestions welcome!

I'm in the process of making a little container pond, do you have any tips for avoiding mosquito problems? I'm in New Zealand. Love your channel 👏

I have a barrel pond which I planted many years ago with a dwarf water lily and apart from some blanket weed that needs clearing every few months, it has survived and flowers every year, would be nice to have more lily flowers but I suppose it's not got that much room, we had some frogspawn in it last year too :)

Hi Joel, love this I have just created a wild flower patch at the top of my garden and am enjoying creating things for wildlife. I am going to add a barrel pond soon, with excess alcohol do you leave the water in for a length of time each time so it soaks into the barrel to help get rid of it?

Great idea and one that I will be adding to my yard. Is there anything I could add to the barrel pond to help fight mosquitoes?

Thanks so much, Joel, for this video. Brilliantly explained. One question, would it be possible to add a solar fountain? I mainly all just because I love the sound of a fountain :)

Hi Joel, loving the video. Have inherited a large half barrel planter with soil still in it . Do I need to clean out the barrel and Where are the plants you list available from?

Hi Joel. Thanks for the great video. I have 2 questions. 1, is now a good time to makes this or am I best to wait till next spring? And 2, I wanted to use a pump so I can have the sound of running water, what effect will this have on the wild life I'm trying to attract? Thanks, Shane.

HI Joel! Thank you for the video, just have a question though. We have all the plants in (only ones we are waiting for is the floating plants) but for some reason the water have become quite cloudy/merky. We have three different oxygenators in there so wondered if you had any idea what might be causing this? Or will it become less cloudy over time? Thank you!

Great video it has encouraged me to try one. I would strongly recommend adding declorinator at the start plus any water changes conducted during maintainance. If not, you will kill any beneficial bacteria and wildlife that is in there.

Hi Wayne - thanks for the VT very helpful. My half barrel once I fill, the water keeps going a milky white colour after anfew days - I noticed yuor was burnt inside as well is it the charring that's causing it - any suggestions apart form lining the barrel?

Thanks for the great video. What was it that you added at the end?

I can’t get a hold of flowering rush plant in USA what would be a good substitute? I love your video. It is the best!!

It turned out lovely. Glad that I watched this video because I probably would have tried to put the plants straight in the barrel(embarrassing). People really can have a small pond anywhere.

Great informative video, thank you 😊

Very nice video, thanks! I was so glad to see you put the log in. I had some uncovered rain barrels once, that I didn't think at the time to put something in, and I found two little bats, drowned one morning. I was heartbroken, and after that have always put something in for critters to climb out on. I love the log though, it's perfect! Do you add any little fish to your barrel ponds? They'd be good for the plants, adding nutrients for them. Also for mosquito control? Thank you again, loved the video. Very informative.

this is a fantastic video thank you - if you fill your barrel pond with tap water do you have to worry about the chlorination?

Lovely video! We made one last year and put a floating solar powered fountain - is there any way to prevent the oxygenating plants getting sucked in? The fountain base does have a mesh cover but it seems to create a little vortex. Thanks in advance!

Hello. I love your video. I am curious where you got that branch/wood stick from or can recommend where to find one for about the same size barrel you demonstrated here. Thank you in advance.

Hi Joel! Thanks for the great video! I'm excited to build my own barrel pond, but I have a question: I live in Quebec, Canada - it snows A LOT here and gets really cold in the winter, like -30C sometimes. What should I do with the pond in this weather?

I would love to see what it looks like now

Compliments + questions. Thank you for sharing this excellent information. I’d no idea that wildlife would profit from a water source this small. Do you have a book or website? Do you recommend that the barrel be kept in the shade?

THANK YOU