Nature on Your Doorstep Community

A place to learn, share and inspire others to create a haven for you and for wildlife.

Sign In or Register to join the conversation

A New Wildlife Pond (Finished...at last)

Hi folks. My newest project is building a Wildlife Pond in the garden so I thought it might be fun to document the progress as I go about this. I realise that this should maybe have been started a bit earlier in the year but better late than never I suppose. We’ve been thinking about a pond for a while now but the only place we can really put it is quite close to some trees down the left hand side of our garden. I think this may raise some concerns with the root system puncturing the pond liner but I’m thinking if I can line the pond with maybe a thick piece of old carpet, sand and pond liner insulation, thing should be fine. The trees that are close to where the pond is going are conifer types so aren’t actually too deep rooted. I’m also considering building a small Hibernacula next to the pond in the hope that this may encourage Frogs and Toads to take up residence here. The pond itself is not going to have any pumps or filter systems, I’ll be relying on the correct plants and creepy-crawlies to carry out the task of keeping the water clean and oxygenated. I’ve been looking at a lot of other threads on here in regards to other peoples Wildlife Ponds so I’m hoping that I may get some good advice along the way, this is all new to me so any and all suggestions and help would be very much appreciated. There are another few issues in regards to the slope of the garden but I’ll get to these as we go along. The first step was to decide on the size and shape of the pond which wasn’t as easy as it may sound. I didn’t want a rectangular pond nor did I fancy a teardrop shaped pond. After about an hour or so of messing around with a hosepipe on the ground, we decided on the shape that you can see in this first photo.

Once this had been decided upon, the first cut went in...

And the job of removing the turf began...

I've been doing most of the work in the evening after I come home from work and I managed to capture this sunset at the end of the first night.

This next photo shows the area where the pond is going to be, taken from the upstairs window in the house.

The roots from the trees are actually quite small and shallow so hopefully things should be fine in regards to this. I suspect that the further down I dig, the less roots I'll come across.

Anyone who's taken turfs off a lawn will know that it's actually quite hard work, they're much heavier than they look to be.!!

I'll maybe add some photos of the birds that visit the garden as well, like this male Blackbird. I've been spoiling him a bit by feeding him pastry and now when I go out into the garden he almost always appears and follows me around until I've given him his pastry fix. On the upside, he comes really close to me at times, within a foot or so although I always throw the pastry balls into the middle of the lawn in case any of my cats are lurking around. I saw him feeding a youngster the other week but I haven't seen the youngster since. He always takes the first load of pastry away, then returns and eats the second lot himself.!!

At last, the turfs are all removed.

The pond doesn't actually look as if it'll be too large and I know that it'll 'come in' a bit once it's planted up, but when you look at the area that the removed turfs cover, I think the entire surface area is in the region of sixty square feet. I've laid the turfs aside for now as I'm still not sure if I maybe need some of them during the build.

I do actually have the basic outlines of a plan for all of this. I've made this up on the PC as I didn't really want to show off too much with my excepionally neat handwriting....!! Like all plans though, it may change as time goes on.!!

As you can see from the plan, the shape of the pond on the left hand side is also to accomodate the Hibrenacula, plus I need access down that side for trimming the trees now and again. You'll have noticed that I intend to put a wall at the bottom end of the pond although this is only going to be a few inches high. I still have lots of stones left from my recent wall building project as you can see from this next photo. I have plans to use a lot of the stones in the pond but more about that later.

I thought ity would maybe be fun to have a wander round the garden at times so I'll start off with a wee look at what's going on in the Greenhouse at the mpment. Mrs A has been gathering bedding plants as you can see from the next few photos.

A few more...

She's also got four hanging baskets planted up although they've still to be hardened off before being put uot at the start of June maybe.

The first two...

And another two....

The only thing that I have in the Greenhouse at the moment are these Carrots. (Ignore the scruffy handwriting, a deranged five year old child must have snuck in, erased my perfect handwriting and replaced it with his own).!!

Whilst we're on the subject of vegetables, I've got a few things going on in containers and bags. From left to right at the back we have five bags of Potatoes, Mint, Rosemary, and a stone container with Herbs in it. I know there's Chives, Parsley, Thyme,Fennel and a few other things that escape me at the moment. In the containers at the front from left to right we have Peas, Spring Onions (which I've only put into half of the container, the other half I'll sow in maybe a month's time), Onions and Cabbages. I'll maybe keep you posted on the progress of these as the Pond build goes on.

Speaking of the Pond, I've begun the process of digging it out.

I'm starting off by going down to around one foot in depth althought this won't apply to all the way round as I intend to have a few gradual slopes going into the water. I'll dig a one foot deep shelf all around the back of the pond (the edge furthest away from the path). The soil was actually quite dry so the digging hasn't been too difficult (so far).!!

And a bit more progress...

A few more birds have been in the garden as all this is going on, like this handsome Jackdaw....

And one of the first young Starlings to appear although their numbers are starting to take off now.!!

A quick dash out to the front of the house now to show you this Lilac tree/bush in the front garden.

And what may be my first ever sighting of an Orange Tip Butterfy? Mrs A spotted it.!!

Since I'm still on the subject of plants, here are one or two others which are starting to come out at the moment. This Aquilegia has started to show (I think that this may be one that I grew from seed last year but I'm not 100% sure of this).

I've no idea what this is.!! It's really pretty though.

Getting back to the pond again, one issue that I have is that the garden slopes away the further down you go. This next diagram shows the difference from one end of the pond to the other.

This leaves me with what I think may be two possibilities. I could build up the surronding area of the pond to have the wall at the far end raised about eight inches as is shown in the next diagram.

The problem I have with this idea is that the new wall that I built recently would be hidden from view along the front of the flower bed when viewed from up the garden. The front of the new wall is only around four inches high. I think I may have decided to raise the wall at the end of the pond to around two inches and then when digging back to the other end I'll actually sink the pond's maximum level around six inches into the ground, if you follow my meaning. The next diagram may help explain this a bit better.

You can see in the diagram where the Hibernacula is possibly going to fit into all of this but more about that another time I think. I've got a few summer/autumn flowering Heathers to plant on the Hibernacula as you can see from this next photo.

As you can see from this next photo, the weather got quite wet for a few days.

This led me to erect a small Gazebo above the pond area, after all, I'm not quite ready to have it filled with water yet.!!

The final photo of this particular post shows the progress made to date. I'm not hopefull that too much will be achieved in the next week as I've come down with a stinker of a cold and I'm also on holiday for a week and had two or three days out planned. (The stones in the hole are just in case a Hedgehog manages to fall in, allowing it to get back out more easily).!!

Thank you if you've read all of this and I'll update it once more progress has been made. I do know that I still have drainage/overflow issues to look at but I have a basic plan for that as well. Until the next time, I hope you've enjoyed.

Paul

  • Fabulous read Paul with both pond and garden area looking superb, you would think it had been in situ for years and good to see the pond has now its own natural bacteria and looking beautiful.    The planting is wonderful, so much colour, variation and habitat for the bugs, birds, insects, etc,    its a real credit to you and Mrs A and must feel so rewarding to look out and see the garden spring to life with new features and plants;   I have loved this thread Paul, such an enjoyable read from start to finish,  to watch from the first digging into the turf (didn't like to use the word sod  lol )  to the finished result.     Please don't finish this completely but maybe start another thread with visitors to the pond :)    nice to catch up with Harry and Tee Tee as well, what great cats they are :)    thanks again for sharing this beautiful and interesting project.

  • Hi Paul, what a lovely end to a great and interesting thread. I have followed this with great interest. From end to end we have been treated with fun and laughter, and also been educated, in the building of your pond and hibernaculum. What a lovely show of colour in yours and Mrs A's flowers. Not forgetting your two furry friends Harry and Tee Tee, they are lovely and have made good foremen. What have you up sleeve for this year? We await with baited breath! Thank you

  • You've got a wonderful way with words, Paul, as well as creating a beautiful pond and garden. It was a most enjoyable read with your wry humour.

    It will be great to see how the results of your labour comes to fruition with all the wildlife that it will attract. I too hope you will keep us updated.

  • Hi Paul,

    Have so enjoyed this thread that you have eventually got me to stop lurking!!

    The pond looks stunning as does the garden. I can't believe you managed so much in such a short space of time. It looks like it's been there for years.

    Thanks for the laughs, the pain and the super cats. Not least thanks Mrs A for her patience.

    All the best from the the Highlands.

    Jenny

  • Thanks folks, as always your kind comments are very much appreciated. I have to say that I’m happy the way the pond has turned out; it’s maybe not exactly as I had envisioned it, but it is pretty close. It was a lot of hard work in the initial stages, with all the digging and lifting, and placing the stones. I’m glad I’ve done it though, it does add a nice feature to the garden, and more importantly, it’s going to be a great place for wildlife. The way it’s turned out isn’t probably 100% wildlife friendly (the sides of the pond could have gradually sloped into the water all the way around) but it wasn’t really practical to build it that way. The area would have had to be much flatter and larger, and in the limited space I had, this would have meant that the overall depth and volume of water would have been much less. Lining it with stones has given me lots of wee ‘nooks ‘n’ crannies’ for the beasties though, and I did manage to incorporate at least the sloping bank into the water at the top end of the pond. Adding the bird bathing areas at the deep end has been a great success, the birds use the pond all the time, and these areas also provide a few extra shallow bits for anything needing to get into or out of the water. All in all, I’m really happy with the full project (I wonder if anything has used the Hibernaculum throughout the winter?)

    Jenny: It’s so nice to meet you at last; I had always thought that maybe you were up in the Highlands. I have always very much appreciated your liking this and all of my other threads, so please don’t be a stranger, I know we’d all love to hear from you more often if you feel like it. I had wondered if maybe your keyboard was broken, or perhaps at the far side of your desk where you couldn’t reach it.!!  :-)

    Once again, thanks to all of you for making this and other threads such a pleasure to put together. I always pass your comments about Mrs A on to her as well, and she also says thank you to everyone for your kindness. I suppose I could maybe update this now and then as the spring arrives, just so we can see how the pond does in its first full season. I’m off now to daydream about Frogs and Toads…..fingers crossed everyone.

    Paul

  • Wonderful! The pictures say it all, so I can't really add anything. I wouldn't mind a pond here, but I need to see how my new garden develops first. It's only about 5 or 6 months old. Good to see the 'civilised' Spadgers forming a queue before taking a dip.

  • I'm just bone idle Paul. It's so much easier to click a like!!

    I really do enjoy your threads and look forward to your pics and commentary.

    Jenny

  • It's all a great achievement PA, every last stone, pebble & plant!!  Marvellous addition to your & Mrs A's garden & a draw for all manner of bird & beast ... bet your hib is full of wondrous array of creepies!!  Please do post regular updates of maturing process, an inspiration for us all (with a great laugh thrown in!!).

  • Thanks everyone, you’re all very kind. I’m looking forward to the Spring and Summer to see how it’s all going to evolve, and I will take a few snaps to keep you all updated. It would be nice to know if there’s anything in the Hibernaculum, Wendy, I’m really hoping for Frog or Toad spawn in the pond, although if it doesn’t happen this year, there’ll always be the next or the next again. I think the main thing is that the opportunity is now there for amphibians when it never was before. Every wee bit helps I suppose. A friend of mine put a small pre-fabricated pond in his garden a few years back, and even though it is really small, he has had a vast array of creatures using the pond. He’s even had Newts, and hundreds of wee ‘froglets’ all over the place. It shows that a water feature, no matter how large or small, does have great benefits for a variety of creatures. Other than the fact that the pond is nice to look at, it does make me feel really good to know that there are now a hoard of things living in the garden which would never have been there without the pond, for this alone all of the hard work has been worthwhile. I would definitely say to you, MC, if you can find the space, any pond, even a really small one would be well worth the effort. My friends one is only a few foot across and as I’ve said, his is teeming with life. Your Sparrows would love it.!! Anyway, if anything interesting starts to happen, you’ll all be the first to know about it.!!

    Paul

  • Hi Paul,

    I just stumbled across this thread, great pond!  I love your updates and how your pond progressed over time, fabulous job.

    I love the Hibernaculum too, very nice indeed.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Best Wishes

    Ian