Ponds

[marcros]

Does anybody know about digging ponds?

I want a little wildlife one to attract a few frogs. Approx 1m X 0.75m, 300-450mm deep. Sizes and shapes are pretty flexible.

I can buy a preformed liner of a suitable size, or can buy the sheet and fit it. Cost of either is comparable to within a few quid. Any thoughts or suggestions for the better option?

 

[Rorschach]

Both will degrade eventually, the pre-form liner is likely to last a bit longer though and requires less ground prep.

 

[topchippyles]

By a plastic pond liner and just dig a hole and refile around it and t will last a lifetime.

 

[Lons]

I dug one years ago and left it to grow over in a wild state so it's amazing just how much wildlife that attracts, some such as herons not so welcome.
I was lucky in that where it's situated is wet so no liner needed but I wanted a deep bit where the beasties could survive when frozen over in the winter so I sunk an old bath into it which stays full even when much of the rest dissipates as it did during this summer.

Frogs and toads will lay their eggs absolutely anywhere even in puddles an inch deep and if you're lucky enough to get newts you'll need rocks, stones and other cover.

 

[matt]

I used a good quality butyl liner for my wildlife pond, built about 15 years ago. Still going strong, even with a pebble beach on it.

 

[Racers]

I relined mine with butyl, no problems so far the newts came back in February as usual.

Pete

 

[Sawdust Sam]

I’m just about finishing my wildlife pond, I used 1mm firestone rubber liner which seems to be all the rage, best to use a quality fleece underlay too.

The most important thing is to get your levels correct so you don’t have lots of liner showing one end and none the other.

 

[marcros]

my concern is that mine will be pretty small, so using a sheet liner there may be a high percentage of folds and overlaps.

 

[sunnybob]

in a wildlife pond folds and overlaps are a good thing. nooks and crannies allow all the bugs to grow that the wildlife feed on.
What youre suggesting is pretty small, but as long as you dont want fish it should still work. Is it open? will it freeze solid?

For that size buy a piece of butyl, or even cheaper is epdm. As said, making sure the rim is level is crucial.
To decide what size liner you add twice the depth to the length, and again twice the depth to the width. The shop will round that up to the nearest metre or half metre and you will have plenty of overlap.

 

[matt]

My pond is small, multi-levelled (below the water line, and a random shape. Yes, lots of folds. However, the trick is to make the folds neat as you fill the pond for the first time - adjusting the folds whilst slowly filling and taking your time. The pressure of the water on the liner helps.

 

[Rorschach]

Not sure where you are based but you might also want to think about mosquitoes. We have to be careful with standing water here in Devon as they are becoming more of a problem now.

 

[DrPhill]

Our wildlife pond is a quarter circle, approx 1.8m radius. It is in its second full season (built in autumn 2016). We have had toads spawn unsuccessfully (spawn sank and rotted) and newts spawn successfully (saw several efts, then they seem to have left on schedule). Plenty of other life in there - amazing how it gets here. (e.g. pea clams).

We *never* put tap water in - only rain water. We have no pump, no filter. We never have fish, we added some plants. The rest arrived by itself. Initially dragon fly, damsel fly and similar. Pond go horribly green at first (using up nutrients, making algae). We remove the blanket weed a couple of times a year (put into bucket of rainwater to rescue various grollies).

We get immense pleasure from our wildlife pond - and the sanctimonious glow of helping nature ;-).

If your pond dries out you risk UV damage to the liner, but nature will adapt. Sometimes a pond drying up helps natuer - it removes long-lived predators like fish.

Go for it....

 

[DrPhill]

I’m just about finishing my wildlife pond, I used 1mm firestone rubber liner which seems to be all the rage, best to use a quality fleece underlay too.

The most important thing is to get your levels correct so you don’t have lots of liner showing one end and none the other.

Love it. I wish we had room for one like it.