I ought to have made an update earlier, but these are photos from a few months ago as the leaves started to fall. At this time, the leaves are all done dropping and the ponds are filled with leaf litter for spring chores.
I was able to get all three planted with:
- common rush
- pickerel weed
- lizard tail
- arrowhead
- hornwort
- eel grass (vallisneria)
- fairy moss
But, not only the ponds, I also filled the surrounding garden with crown from perennials:
- ironweed
- blue cohosh
- black cohosh
- goldenrod
- blue lobelia
- foam flower
- cardinal flower
- maidenhair fern
- fiddlehead fern
- sensitive fern
- walking fern
- pennsylvania sedge
- haircap moss
- tree moss
- cushion moss
- fern moss
I'll need to get some photos in the spring as things emerge.
There is also a boxelder maple seedling and switch grass already in this garden.
by kenmcnay
6 Comments
So gorgeous and natural looking! Going to draw some inspiration from this for next year 🙂 Can’t wait to see yours in spring!
Our garden is near Pittsburgh, PA in zone 6.
We moved here in Jan 2024 and started this project during the summer of 2025; we finished the project shortly after school started in Aug 2025 as we planted the tub ponds and the surroundings. All the trunks and branches came from other locations on our property, but we bought in the plants from online vendors.
I’ll need to post more photos in the spring as things emerge.
How much sun does this get? Appreciate your plant inventory.
I built a small frog bog last year – with only 2 plants, lizards tail and a carex. But it was an amazing success with the frogs it attracted and I am planning on installing something a bit larger next year.
Do you have dogs?
I’d love something like this but don’t think it’s compatible with my pups.
ALSO, this is still water. What are your thoughts on mosquitos?
Sounds like an awesome project! Can’t wait to see it all come to life in spring! 🌱
WOW. Hello neighbor! 👋 This looks like an *amazing* habitat for amphibians! I’m a reptile and amphibian lover myself – teach me your ways! How wide are your tubs, and how deep? Did you let them fill up naturally with rain water? Is your soil naturally acidic?