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Wildlife Gardening

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Garden Birds

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Wildlife Ponds

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Amphibians

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Insects

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And many more visitors

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Building a pond - The Site

Existing hollow - looks more natural

Balance of light and shade

Keep away from pollution sources

Careful with Trees & Leaves

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Building a Pond

  1. Dig your hole
  2. Remove stones
  3. Install underlay
  4. Install the liner
  5. Fill with water

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Building a pond - Size / Shape

Irregular shape

At least 1 shallow sloping side

Different depths 20cm to 80cm

Allow drawdown zone

Pond Bed - mud and gravel

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Building a pond - Lining

  • Avoid pre-formed plastic ponds - steep sides, no drawdown zones
  • Avoid concrete - leaching chemicals
  • Polythene Liners - suitable, cheap may need to be replaced
  • Butyl rubber Liners - best option, long life, repairable but more expensive

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Building a pond - Lining Size

Total Length = max length + (2 x max depth) + 1m

Total Width = max width + (2 x max depth) + 1m

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Example 5m x 3m, 1m deep

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Length 5 + 2 + 1 = 8m

Width 3 + 2 + 1 = 6m

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Building a pond - Water

  • Vital to maintain healthy eco-system
  • Rain water
  • Avoid tap water
  • Plants helps to clean and oxygenate and consume nutrients

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Building a pond - Planting

  • Allow water stand
  • Late spring is best
  • Native plants
  • Use aquatic soil
  • Aquatic planting baskets
  • Aim to have ⅔ pond vegetated

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Pond Plants

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Marsh and marginal plants

Creeping-Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia)

Marsh-marigold (Caltha palustris)

Ragged-robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi)

Water forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides)

Water mint (Mentha aquatica)

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Emergent plants

Arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia)

Bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata)

Yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus)

Flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus)

Greater spearwort (Ranunculus lingua)

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Plants with floating leaves

Fringed water lily (Nymphoides peltata)

Water crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis)

Amphibious bistort (Polygonum amphibium)

Yellow water lily (Nuphar lutea)

Water starwort (Callitriche stagnalis)

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Submerged and free-floating plants

Rigid hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) O2

Spiked water milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum)O2

Curled pondweed (Potamogeton crispus)O2

Frogbit (Hydrocharis morsusranae)

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Maintenace

Controlling Blanketweed / Duckweed

Remove excessive plant growth (autumn)

Debris removal

Topping up when necessary

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My Pond Project - 2011

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Spot the frog?

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Here he is

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Common Darter

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My Pond - 2013

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Frogzilla

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Today

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Resources

www.rspb.org.uk

www.bbowt.org.uk/ponds

www.rhs.org.uk

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The Nation Trust - Ponds (Book)