Virginia teen dug pond for school project; 9 years later, wildlife thrives

What began as a school assignment with a shovel and an ordinary patch of lawn has become a small wildlife sanctuary in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. In 2017, 14-year-old Maggie dug a backyard pond for a high school agriculture class project. Nine years later, the pond supports aquatic life and attracts frogs, toads and other wildlife.

Maggie researched pond designs before beginning work in the fall of 2017. The pond filled with water by spring 2018, after which her family helped landscape its edges with soil, rocks and plants. American toads appeared soon afterward. Over time, gray treefrogs, green frogs and a wider range of creatures joined them.

The family learned that native landscaping could strengthen the habitat. They planted buttonbush, Joe-Pye weed and pickerelweed around the pond, providing food and shelter for pollinators and other wildlife. They later added white water lilies and had the garden certified as a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

The result shows how a small project can create a functioning backyard ecosystem when it combines food, water, shelter and suitable native vegetation. The pond cannot solve the biodiversity crisis on its own, but it has created a place where local wildlife can thrive and the family can observe nature closely.