Toad friendly pond edge help request

Hello good people

I have a pre-formed 70gallon pondlet that looks quite dead right now.
No matter what i try to grow over the edge, no matter what size sticks
i put in the water, the toads still come before plants have a chance
to grow and they can't seem to climb on sticks. Last year i had bricks
stacked all over and it not only cut down on the fishes space, but
there are only two little shelves on the short end. The little guys
seem to panic before they ever make it out, and they need just about a
half a width of a brick more. These bricks also take up the little bit
of plant shelves i have. So........ What i really want, is a way to
make a ridge all the way around the pond just about 4 inches wide and
an inch or two below the surface. (Leaving a place to overflow the
pond from time to time)


Any ideas how i could do this? I thought i could make a toad rack/ lol
out of coat hanger wire but i need something besides sod to cover the
wire with.

Come on, geniuses, help this idiot who wants nothing if a completely
toad friendly pond. (Oh, i cant WAIT to dig my next one. It will have
a "shore" of sorts)

Someone in the Dallas area refresh my memory. Is it the end of april
that the toads spawn? That isn't very far away! I want to get their
love pond ready! haha

"jammer" wrote in message
news
Hello good people

I have a pre-formed 70gallon pondlet that looks quite dead
right now.
No matter what i try to grow over the edge, no matter what
size sticks
i put in the water, the toads still come before plants
have a chance
to grow and they can't seem to climb on sticks. Last year
i had bricks
stacked all over and it not only cut down on the fishes
space, but
there are only two little shelves on the short end. The
little guys
seem to panic before they ever make it out, and they need
just about a
half a width of a brick more. These bricks also take up
the little bit
of plant shelves i have. So........ What i really want, is
a way to
make a ridge all the way around the pond just about 4
inches wide and
an inch or two below the surface. (Leaving a place to
overflow the
pond from time to time)

I'm having a hard time visualizing your setup, but I'll give
it a shot. Is there any way to make a sloping beach out of
dirt and pea gravel? We have heavy clay here and if I press
a layer (about 1/2") of pea gravel in it the beach tends to
stay (not get washed away). Some sort of sloping type pan
as the container, like those paint pans used with paint
rollers (and cut down to fit) might work.

Screening material might also be useful, unless you think
the toadlets might get caught in the screen. And that would
be easy to manipulate, mold, bend to your needs.

[snip]
Someone in the Dallas area refresh my memory. Is it the
end of april
that the toads spawn? That isn't very far away! I want to
get their
love pond ready! haha

I'm in the San Antonio area. I've seen a toad near my
in-ground pond (the one that gets a gadzillion toadpoles)
but I haven't seen any babies yet and I can't remember from
last year when they showed up. Water temps in the in-ground
pond and stock tank ponds has been ranging in the 50s and
lower 60s, but we tend to be warmer here than Dallas.

Gail

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 00:29:37 -0600, jammer wrote:

Any ideas how i could do this? I thought i could make a toad rack/ lol
out of coat hanger wire but i need something besides sod to cover the
wire with.

Coat hanger wire will rust, but oven racks are stainless and can be
painted.

Regards,

Hal

Hi Jammer - I don't hang out here too much anymore. Just too much going on
lately. But . . .I don't know how big or how deep your plant shelves are
but what about an inverted milk crate on your shelf with some iris attached
to it or some type of plant that will survive well without having their toes
and roots in soil. I have frogs/toads that sit in them all day and can jump
from there over to the sides of the pond. . A fellow ponder here at rec
ponds gave me this idea about iris and milk crates. It has worked out well
for me for 3 years. The plants I have were wild with a lot of root mass on
their rhizomes (are they rhizomes?) and after washing off all the dirt and
debris I fed the roots thru the holes in the inverted milk crate then
strapped them on with large plastic ties. After they are all set, fit rocks
around on top to hold the milk crate down. you won't see them very well
after some green stuff grows on the rocks. The tops of my milk crates are
about 3 inches or so below the waterline. Good luck Any pics of your
pondlet ??

Peggy

See my pond @ http://community.webshots.com/user/peggy256


"jammer" wrote in message
news
Hello good people

I have a pre-formed 70gallon pondlet that looks quite dead right now.
No matter what i try to grow over the edge, no matter what size sticks
i put in the water, the toads still come before plants have a chance
to grow and they can't seem to climb on sticks. Last year i had bricks
stacked all over and it not only cut down on the fishes space, but
there are only two little shelves on the short end. The little guys
seem to panic before they ever make it out, and they need just about a
half a width of a brick more. These bricks also take up the little bit
of plant shelves i have. So........ What i really want, is a way to
make a ridge all the way around the pond just about 4 inches wide and
an inch or two below the surface. (Leaving a place to overflow the
pond from time to time)


Any ideas how i could do this? I thought i could make a toad rack/ lol
out of coat hanger wire but i need something besides sod to cover the
wire with.

Come on, geniuses, help this idiot who wants nothing if a completely
toad friendly pond. (Oh, i cant WAIT to dig my next one. It will have
a "shore" of sorts)

Someone in the Dallas area refresh my memory. Is it the end of april
that the toads spawn? That isn't very far away! I want to get their
love pond ready! haha