Planning to put in a pond? Need some help?

As part of the Ring of Gullion Lúnasa Festival, the Ring of Gullion team have joined forces with The Conservation Volunteers to provide a workshop on pond construction and getting the most out of your pond. The workshop will start at 10.00am on Thursday 27th August in Jonesborough’s Pastoral Centre. Booking is through the Ring of Gullion website www.ringofgullion.org.

Whether you want to create and maintain a haven for wildlife or build something more formal, this workshop will be a good place to start. The　workshop is suitable for beginners and more experienced gardeners alike.

The workshop will provide practical advice on how to create and maintain a garden pond. It will also learn about pond profiles, creating planting pockets for plants, and how to encourage wildlife to the pond. It will also concentrate on making the pond safe (fencing and/or safety grid). There is also a chance to sign up for pond　dipping in Slieve Gullion Forest Park in the afternoon(booking separately on the Ring of Gullion website),　we will dip one of the ponds in the　Forest Park　to see how interesting and rewarding a good pond can be.

Councillor Naomi Bailie, Chairperson of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council said “Ponds are an intrinsic part of any garden and can be created in the smallest area. There’s something enchanting about sitting next to a garden pond, and it’s amazing how quickly wildlife will find it and create a thriving ecosystem.”

In summer, it should be only a short matter of weeks before pond skaters and water beetles arrive under cover of darkness. You might get dragonflies and damselflies in your first season. And frogs and newts are possible within a year.

This workshop is part of the on-going conservation work being undertaken by the Ring of Gullion AONB and Landscape Partnership in its bid to improve the overall habitats in the area. If you are a school or a community group in the Ring of Gullion and would like help developing a wildlife area on your groups, please get in touch with the team.

This workshop is free and supported by Newry Mourne and Down District Council, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Ring of Gullion Landscape Partnership, and the Heritage Lottery Fund. If you would like to book your place, visit the website www.ringofgullion.org or call into the office in Crossmaglen Community Centre, O’Fiaich Square, Crossmaglen, BT35 9AA Tel:-(028) 3082 8590. Photo by Enda Flynn.