Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 9 hrs ago
Virginia teenager’s garden pond becomes a wildlife refuge
In 2017, 14-year-old Maggie Johnson dug a small pond in her family’s garden in Virginia for a school project.
The pond was filled with water in spring 2018, and toads arrived within weeks.
Frogs, butterflies, hummingbirds and other wildlife later settled around it without being introduced by the family.
The pond is now a small, self-sustaining wildlife habitat, with plants and animals forming a local ecosystem.
Small ponds matter because amphibians can lay eggs there without fish eating them, and the insects they support feed other wildlife.
The family spent about $160 to start the pond and adds plants over time; it does not need a filter.
The garden has received Certified Wildlife Habitat status from the National Wildlife Federation, and the family continues to let nature take its course.
Maggie Johnson dug a small pond by hand in her family’s Virginia garden in 2017, when she was 14, for a school project.
The pond filled with water in spring 2018 and attracted American toads within weeks.
Over time, frogs, tree frogs, butterflies, hummingbirds and other wildlife came to the pond, forming a self-sustaining small ecosystem.
The family spent about $160 on the initial project and about $100 a year on plants.
The garden has been certified as a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.
- Who
- Maggie Johnson, then 14, created the pond with help from her family.
- What
- A hand-dug garden pond became a refuge for wildlife and a small ecosystem.
- When
- Johnson began the project in 2017; the pond filled in spring 2018.
- Where
- The family garden in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
- Why
- It was for a school agriculture project.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Maggie Johnson dug the pond by hand for a school agriculture project.
The pond was filled with water.
The first American toads arrived at the pond.
The family installed a fence to keep cats away.
Steven David Johnson’s account of the pond appeared in National Wildlife.
- Pond diameter
- About 3.7 metres
- Initial cost
- About $160
- Annual plant spending
- About $100
- Fence cost
- $600 in 2025
- Certification
- Certified Wildlife Habitat, National Wildlife Federation
3 sources
En 2017, une Américaine de 14 ans a creusé un étang dans son jardin - neuf ans plus tard, il est devenu florissant
Pour 160 dollars et une pelle, la mare creusée par une ado de 14 ans pour un devoir est devenue un refuge pour la faune
Insolite. Elle avait creusé une mare pour un projet scolaire : 9 ans plus tard, tout un écosystème s'est créé
What people are saying
A few weeks only after the pond was filled, the first American toads found it.
The pond has continued to grow and evolve every year.
From an occasional passing toad to an ecosystem that functions entirely.
A pond does not need to be complicated or expensive.