Forum home Wildlife gardening
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Pond or not

Need help, i would like to make this into a wildlife pond, as i am on my own with a small budget, can this be done? Stones are caving in, no idea where to start? Just moved here, old tenants used it for a trampline.

Thanks in advance.

image

 

 

«134

Posts

  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995

    Lovely spot.. but the budget may be a bit of an issue (depending upon how small).  Pond liner or hard shell can be a bit pricey.  What is your budget, roughly?  

    Utah, USA.
  • Dave MorganDave Morgan Posts: 3,123

    Ponds don't need to be expensive, it's the digging out which is the hard work. Even a small pond, half the size of the above area can be very effective. Go for half the area above and get it right in the first place and it will do you for years.

  • Fishy65Fishy65 Posts: 2,276

    Christine - I dug a pond out last August, about 2.5 metres by 2. Pond liners are much cheaper than they used to be and like Dave says, the digging is the hard bit but pace yourself and you'll be fine. Plus wildlife is very undemanding. Provide water and they will come image

  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995

    Gardner's World did a lovely special a few weeks ago (over two segments) building a small wildlife pond.  Worth a watch on iPlayer if you have time.  

    I stand corrected on the cost of pond liners, it's been about six years since I looked into the cost of one.. and was completely put off from the idea!  

    Utah, USA.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190

    Fishy and I both bought this pond liner, it will do you for a day of two, and free postage on 45.00 

    http://www.bradshawsdirect.co.uk/pond/pond-liner/35-year-polyex-pond-liners-with-free-underlay 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • OnopordumOnopordum Posts: 390

    Don't dig the pond too deep. About 12-15 inches in the middle should be fine. More important is to have a good range of shallow gently sloping areas round the edge (or a series of flat 'terraces' e.g. 2" 4" 6" 12" deep). Take care to get the edges level though - a long spirit level is useful. Go for as large as seems practical/affordable - wide and shallow is much better than small and deep.

  • Thanks for all the tips, Blue Onion not really got a budget, just trying to figure out how to start it off. When i dig does it all have to be smooth and patted down, stones gravel bits ect removed? Then lay a liner down? Just dont know how to do the edging, i can dig and dig little slopes here and there, but how do i do the edging?

    Thank you xx

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,697
    You must remove all stones so that they don't puncture the liner. Its a good idea to have something between the liner and the soil so that the liner doesn't get damaged. You can buy fleecy stuff for this but when I renovated my pond I discovered bubble wrap, old carpet and underlay beneath the liner. It worked just fine.

    Make sure the liner extends about a foot beyond the pond but don't trim it until the pond has been filled with water. You can edge with slabs or bricks set in concrete, or use big pebbles or grass. There are plenty of images on Google to inspire you.
  • Thank you Ceres, im scared to concrete incase i make a mess of it then its stuck lol, off to have a think, much appreciated, will google pics see how i can do edging with no cement lol. imageimageimage

  • Fishy65Fishy65 Posts: 2,276

    christine - its not essential to concrete the edges of the pond. With mine, I dug it out in a lawn so had turves I could lay over the excess liner. You have some gravel there that you could use. Do you have any largish stones? You could use those to weigh the edges down. Once you lay the liner into the hole, the weight of water holds the liner in place. Here are some pics of mine that might help to make things clearer image

    image

     

    image

     

Sign In or Register to comment.