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Pond - Preformed or Natural
NewBoy2
Posts: 1,813
I have an opportunity to create a new pond on my allotment in a 4 foot by 6 foot area
It will be 12 foot from a hedge and has bushes and grass nearby so i know it will support life
Buy a manufactured one or dig and fill with a liner etc
Assistance please friends
Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
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Posts
You can get a quality liner & underlay for much less than the cost of a preformed pond. Plus more flexibility in size, shape etc. I'd make it fairly rectangular to fill the space as effectively as possible. I'd probably go for a terraced design with shallower shelves at one end (and perhaps along one side as well but not both). Flat terraces with vertical sides are better than slopes which in a pond this size would have to be so steep that sediment/sand etc just slides off.
Assuming a 6' x 4' rectangle, I'd probably go somewhere along the lines of (from one end):
1' 4"-5" deep
1.5' 8" deep
3.5' 12"-14" deep
Optionally extend one of the shallower shelves along one of the sides as well. No need to go any deeper than this.
That assumes planting without baskets in a layer of e.g. play sand over the shelves. Should give a pretty good pond for frogs, newts, dragonflies etc.
Make sure to check the levels carefully, ideally with a long spirit level. Ideally fill with rainwater to avoid the excessive nutrients in tap/ground water.
A liner is far easier to install than a preformed pond. Even the heavy duty fibreglass ponds are a pain to install because to the problems of levelling and backfilling.
No need to buy underlay. I used old carpet which the local carpet shop was happy to give away. Saved money and reduced landfill!
We bought liner, it carries a lifetime guarantee, we got this one from here. There's a chart to help you work out how much you need, it was very easy to lay, far better than the pre formed ones. We used it brown side out but that's your choice.
http://www.bradshawsdirect.co.uk/pond-liners/pondkraft-polyex-pond-liners-with-free-underlay-and-lifetime-guarantee
It's just a wildlife pond on an allotment so no need to be bulletproof. Cheap liner will be fine with old carpet underneath it to protect it. Remove the stones once you've dug and install carpet and liner and job should be a good un
I wouldn't say £20.00 for the lot is expensive and there's also a 10% voucher available .
its guaranteed to last, good value I think.
Onopodium
You say play sand
? Do you mean place sand on the outer most shelf and then plant straight into the sand
? Will the sand just disperse over time and then leave the plants sitting on the liner
Im just seeking clarification please
Yes, so long as the liner's pretty flat I find the sand stays in place quite well. Doesn't work on a slope. You don't need a huge quantity of sand - probably 1 cm or so would be enough but you could put more. It protects the liner and gives the plants something to root into. Over time it gets covered with sediment anyway.
I don't think there's any point covering the whole bottom of the pond but for individual plants you could perhaps weigh them down and cover the roots with a mound of sand to help them establish.
Play sand is good because it's clean and you don't want sand with a lot of dust/dirt in it which will cloud the water - I find it settles very quickly. Avoid builders sand. Horticultural sand might do if you washed it thoroughly first, but play sand is just easier.
The other advantage of sand is it has very few nutrients in it, so doesn't encourage algal growth. Same for rain vs tapwater.
I prefer not to use planting baskets - gives a more naturalistic appearance and allows a better pond profile i.e. you don't need to worry about taking the depth of the baskets into account. Bear in mind that a lot of marginal plants (and other pondlife) like very shallow water up to a few inches deep. 'Traditional' garden pond advice is for a planting shelf about 1' deep which, combined with a basket, will give maybe 0-4" of water above the soil. So for planting straight into sand you'll want the shallowest planting shelf similarly shallow above the sand. It's good to have a whole range of different depths, especially around the margins (i.e. the difference between 0" and 4" is much more significant than between 10" and 14").
I have done drawings of the pond and decided the lay out allowing for an exit point for the critters
I have allowed a 6" strip around 3 sides of the pond to place the retaining stones/slabs and then a drop into the water of 6 inches with the next 6" strip for marginal planting
I have mapped out 3 areas with 3 different depths
? What plants would you place in the sand at the margins
? What plants would you place in the 3 depths of 6" , 12" and 18"
You have suggested a sloping entry point for the critters
? Can it be a 12" drop in a 12" distance which is a 45% angle of should it be sloped more