Tiny City Pond Help

Still no pond skaters, but the plants and snails have arrived. I've also added a proper rockery with some big rocks we beach-combed from an area that gives us access to the Thames.

The pond edges of mine are a mix of grassy overhang and sort of bog, where I just piled up soil to the very top to give it a very wet slope. I've also put a small log up one end which overhangs the pond to provide a good sheltered patch. There isn't room around ours for decking or paving. :O)

It sounds as if it's coming along nicely :)

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Good luck and any problems give us a shout :)

Lorraine, I just LOVE your pond. It looks fantastic, and so natural. I don't know much about ponds but I thought a small pool of water would go all yucky. I presume it's the plants that keep it fresh? Apologies for my complete ignorance on the subject. I am resisting the urge to create one myself. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not physically able to create and maintain such things.

I have buit a few ponds over the years and have had the same problem with damage to the liner.  My solution has been to double line the pond. I use a liner then a thick layer of sand and then a second liner.  This means that even if the top layer is punctured the pond remains waterproof.  You can buy repair adhesive which even sets under water or when damp and I have found a very useful double sided adhesive tape that cane used to repair small tears.

The photograph shows the pond just after it was completed about three years ago. It consists of three interlocking pools connected by flowing water. The third large pool is about 5ft deep and contains a collection of fish.  The depth means that they are safe from our predetory herons.  The middle and third pools are now full of wild plants including bullrushes, reeds and water lily as well as water mint etc.  We have newts, toads and many insects including several species of dragonflies.  The birds love to use the two top pools for bathing and drinking and we have families of wrens who lve to use the pond edges and plants for feeding.

I couldn't live without a wildlife pond and it wa sone of the first things we installed at the house when we moved to the isle of Wight in July 2005.

the most importent thing is sun light not enough and the pond just doesnt grow right

newts like deeper water but frogs will brreed in vewry shallow pond providing there s sun the frog spawn is always laid in the shallow sunnyest position

fish and newts dont mixe the fish eat the newt tadpoles and frogs tadpoles

fish also eat water snail eges an small snails

had fish  for years now know what its like without them and for wild life pond dont have them

you can bury the liner at the edges and cover with stones to stop the earth washing into the pond after a while plants will hold it all together

when buying water plants check the size of these plants when fully grown some grow up to 6ft tall

Hi Lorraine
Your pond looks really lovely and so well established. It is a shame the liner has been damaged. AJD Hoggies has pointed out you should be able to get a repair kit. I just put 'pond liner repair' into Google and there's loads of sites came up.

This hopefully will avoid the need for too much major disturbance. Its getting near that time of year when its safest to work on ponds, either thinning vegetation - never more than a third in any one year, or for carrying out repairs. Anything you disturb will have the chance to find refuge elsewhere in the pond or somewhere nearby, before the weather gets too cold.

Red Robin makes a good point about using larger stones as a retainer. Once the vegetation has established it should help hold the soil together. Consider using larger gravel or cobblestones - no less perhaps than 35 - 40mm. There's little chance this will be washed or scraped away. 

As Red Robin suggests, anyone considering a wildlife pond should avoid introducing fish, as they do tend to eat any amphibians and invertebrates. If, like AJD Hoggies, you have the room you could have a multi-functional water feature with fish in one area and wildlife in another and get the best of both worlds.

We can all learn from each other’s experiences here. It would be nice to know how much disturbance was necessary in the end, whether you were able to use a repair kit and any pitfalls for others in a similar situation to be aware of.  

Good luck and please keep us all posted.

In the meantime I am going to post a request into the 'Cheapies corner' thread to see if anyone in the 'Greenfingers Forum' has any ideas about a cheap and cost effective method of pond repair.

John

Would love to see an update on how everyone's ponds are doing. I'm nosy like that!!

That pond looks really lovely Lorraine, really natural looking.

Mine is doing okay, still no pond skaters though... :O( but the birds, wasps and flies love it.

However the plants all seem to have rooted okay and some of them really seem to be establishing themselves nicely, its already starting to look overgrown and we love sitting by it.

I'll try and take some more pictures of it for you paula. Unfortunately as I mention in another thread I managed to break my back whilst I was on holiday, so gardening is out of the question for me at the moment and any further improvements are now on hold for a while (thankfully I will make a full recovery and should be back to normal in a few months).

Oh No, how awful. You must be in so much pain. It was bad enough breaking my foot earlier in the summer. As you're already aware I'm really nosy...so how did you manage to break your back? I wish you a speedy recovery. Please take care.