Today I decided to create a wildlife pond in my garden.
This had been something on my mind for a while as I have read that it's the best thing you can do to support wildlife in your garden. I had initially thought that I would just do a pond in a bucket, but I ended up getting a tad carried away with myself. I was also advised that it can be hard for animals to get in and out when the edges aren't sloped, so while a bucket pond is great for insects it's not so great for other wildlife.
There is a section of my garden that my husband has agreed I can allow to be my 'wild patch', where we will let the grass and wildflowers grow long. I put the pond in this area so hopefully an ecosystem can start to emerge.
Why building a pond in your garden is important
New research shows that half the wetlands in Europe, continental US and China have been destroyed in the past 300 years, with some areas losing more than 75%.
In the UK we have destroyed 90% of our freshwater habitat since the industrial revolution. 10% of the species that rely on these environments are now threatened with extinction.[1]
Freshwater ecosystems, including wetlands, lakes and rivers, cover 0.8% of the Earth's surface but over 10% of all life on Earth is dependent on them and they are home to 3% of extant invertebrates.[2]
Adding water to your garden is one of the best things you can do for wildlife in your garden. This RHS leaflet provides lots of information about the types of animals you may attract to your pond- from frogs/tadpoles, to dragonflies.
Things to consider before building a pond.
Building a wildlife pond - key steps
1) Buy materials
I went to Finchley Nurseries, where Charlotte from the aquatics centre helped me decide what to do. I explained that I had a young child so didn't want a pond that was too deep. She recommended that I use a liner rather than a ready made mould as this would give me more control on the depth. Here are the materials I used:
Underlay
Pond liner
I got a native oxygenating plant for the pond - I got some water crowfoot. Many aren't ready til March, so I just took what was there. I will get some more when they hit the stores in March.
This came to £55. I could have saved by not using an underlay and using old carpet or cardboard but I went for the easiest option.
2) Gather extra bits and pieces
I gathered lots of logs and bricks that I had lying around in my garden (I collect these things anway...) to help secure the edge of the liner.
3) Decide the size & shape of your pond
There are lots of guides online on how to make a pond. I personally used the brilliant drawing below by family friends and wild guru, Neil, in which he stressed to me to do sloping edges so the animals can get in and out, with a deeper area in the bottom. This doesn't have to be very deep, mine's probably not more than 20-30cm. Neil also recommended having a bog pit at one end, separate from the main pond, that you fill with soil.
4) Start digging
At this time of year my usually rock hard garden is fairly easy to dig, which was a happy discovery! So away I went. I kept it fairly shallow, and about 20cm at the deepest point in the middle. I then added a very shallow bog pitt at one end which I filled with soil.
I made sure I left 30cm of liner at least round each side so that I could seal it.
5) Seal the edges
I kept the grass that I dug up to then secure the liner down, along with some of the logs etc I mentioned in point 2. I'll continue to add to this in the days ahead until the liner is completely covered. I'll also plant some ferns round the edge and hopefully get a little fountain as well to keep the water circulating. My long term plan is to rewild the area around the pond and also have a section where I scatter locally collected seeds of large flowering evening primrose and oxeye daisy to help get the process going.
Concluding thoughts
It was a really fun project that only took a couple of hours to complete after I had gathered all the materials. I'm excited to see how things develop and making it look pretty over the next few days and weeks.
Other resources
Froglife "just add water" leaflet has a wealth of information.
Endnotes
[1] + [2] I picked up a book called 'Back to Nature: How to Love life and Save it' written by Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin, at a charity shop last week, which included some really interesting stats about ponds.