building a wildlife pond

[Guest Rod&dog]

Am thinking of building a widllife pond for my garden,, which is not the biggest in the world,, But enough space for a small pond,,could anyone give me a few tips on how to make one and what to use? thanks.

[Kay 3,709]

I think you have to lay sand in the hole LLoyd & then a liner on the smoothed sand so it hasnt any sharp edges that can damage the pond liner , thats what they did on a programme i watched a bit back & it looked really good with some plants in etc

 

Good luck with it & keep us updated on the progress, be nice to see if you get any frogs in it next year

[shepp 2,285]

Dont make it any deeper than 1 meter and the sides should be at a 1 / 10 gradient.

A kidney shape is recommended, you will have to decide whether to stock it yourself or wait for nature to take over, depends on how far away the nearest pond is.

Put some soil in before filling but not top soil, use sub soil because it has less nutrients.

Funny enough we did this at college today.

[StephOC 6]

Black liner is fine to use with sand or carpet or similar underneath, obviously remove all sharp stones, etc. Try to include areas of varying depth if possible. Most people end up with the ugly liner very much on show around the edge of the pond. This is bad because as well as looking unsightly, the sun wears the plastic, and it never seems quite as 'natural'. I have drawn a diagram of how to hide your liner, and include a ledge (underlined in red) to plant your reeds and stuff in - you can put soil in this area, or try putting the soil in old sacking laid in this ledge (you'll need to cut holes through the cloth) just to keep it in one place to start with. This soggy, leafy egde is the best thing for getting frogs and invertebrates into your pond. In addition, create a random shape ~ more edge = more wildlife.

[Kay 3,709]

I wish i had room for a pond it would be a good project for this spring

[shepp 2,285]

Yes they are great, i would say they can increase the species of wildlife in you garden ten fold.

[mccroryart 0]

Chuck in a bucketful of water from an established pond to kick start the naturalisation process.

 

Eamonn

[Little Butch 16]

Don't stock It with any Fish and when you fill It use Rainwater and a Bucketfull from a well established Pond..

You'll need some Oxegenator Plants which will give your Pond plenty of Oxegen.

Butch

[ghillies 209]

uv filter to kill the green slime, but get one thats big enough to cope with the amount of water in the pond..

house water pumps..like the one to your insulation tank are a cheaper options sometimes.

put plants in something that'll hold the roots and silt, else you'll be digging up months of fish turd silt and all the other stuff that settles in.

if yuo put any thing 'exotic' in there, get some serious netting and heron proof it.

 

last but not least, hot summer and you'll notice the water gets low quick...before looking for the leak watch over night a few nights to see how many fox;s cats and the likes are drinking from it.

[Guest bullterrier]

council said we had to fill are pond in on the allotment because it was to big 6x8x2foot deep so we got a old bath out of a skip and put that in the ground with stones around the edge and a piece of flag stone as a ramp for the frogs or what ever else needs to get out we get plenty of frogs kids love it and as a bonus they eat the slugs might put another one in this winter. ..john

[shepp 2,285]

uv filter to kill the green slime, but get one thats big enough to cope with the amount of water in the pond..

house water pumps..like the one to your insulation tank are a cheaper options sometimes.

put plants in something that'll hold the roots and silt, else you'll be digging up months of fish turd silt and all the other stuff that settles in.

if yuo put any thing 'exotic' in there, get some serious netting and heron proof it.

 

last but not least, hot summer and you'll notice the water gets low quick...before looking for the leak watch over night a few nights to see how many fox;s cats and the likes are drinking from it.

 

That's a fish pond mate a nature pond is a different thing all together.

[smarty 0]

the plastic ready made ponds a bit shallow tho but im sure you could find one deep enough

 

i had one for my terrapin in the summer it wasnt built in the grass tho just place it on the garden

[Teesdale-rabbiter 15]

I just used some black plarster mixing baths i think there about a £10 each, there not too deep and the dont rip like that plastic stuff, dig them in put some stones round the edge make sure it has a ramp in it so if any thing falls in it can get out ect, few plants in it sorted

 

atb with your pond mate

 

T-R

[J Darcy 5,871]

Don't put duckweed in it by accident........and...make sure its in a sunny place......for best results.