It might be a little controversial , but IMHO a formal pool/ pond can still be a " wildlife " pool/pond. I don't think birds and insects and reptiles and amphibians are really bothered about whether there's stones / slabs, grass or plants or some combination around the edge, so long as they can access/ exit and get to the goodies contained therein.
I've found that if you can work out how much column of whatever you need the supplier works out what weight you need, how many bags etc. If buying a lot of gravel or stone it's always cheaper to cut out the middle men (B&Q, MKM, Travis Perkins etc) and go directly to your nearest commercial supplier.
You can get a couple of tonnes (2 1/2ish bulk bags) for £60 delivered in a skip, £60 won't go far at the local garden centre or B&Q etc.
Sorry to jump on this thread but I too am planning a wildlife pond to build in a couple of months' time and have done quite a bit of reading but still have questions on how to edge it! I read that if you edge it with grass (my preferred choice, except for an area about a third of the size which would be sloping pebbles) that the water can drain up through the grass very quickly and you need to leave a gap between the water and turf (that I suppose is planted with bog plants etc). But I can't visualise or understand how this would look - does anyone understand what's been talked about and how I need to go about incorporating this?
Sorry to jump on this thread but I too am planning a wildlife pond to build in a couple of months' time and have done quite a bit of reading but still have questions on how to edge it! I read that if you edge it with grass (my preferred choice, except for an area about a third of the size which would be sloping pebbles) that the water can drain up through the grass very quickly and you need to leave a gap between the water and turf (that I suppose is planted with bog plants etc). But I can't visualise or understand how this would look - does anyone understand what's been talked about and how I need to go about incorporating this?
I can't help sorry.
But I've seen loads of ponds with turf right up to the water line and never heard of problems before.
You're right that the water will wick up through the turf but after a while the level of the water will drop below the turf, so the supply is cut off and the water level stays the same. When it rains and the water rises and touches the turf it gets sucked away again creating a boggy area, so you'll get grass pretty much up to the the water's edge.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Our son made a pond and fitted artificial grass round and into it. It looked lovely under the water and the newts loved it and laid eggs on it. Valerie
We did our pond last year we love it! We Can’t take the credit for the design but we helped with the grafting and did the logs and planting. We wanted it to be formal but 1st and foremost wildlife friendly, we used logs and cobbles to hide the liner. In the 1st year we had loads of wildlife visit even a hedgehog. It is my favourite part of the garden.
We did our pond last year we love it! We Can’t take the credit for the design but we helped with the grafting and did the logs and planting. We wanted it to be formal but 1st and foremost wildlife friendly, we used logs and cobbles to hide the liner. In the 1st year we had loads of wildlife visit even a hedgehog. It is my favourite part of the garden.
I finally got around to making a small wildlife pond the other day in an area of my garden that had been neglected. I had tried to clear it earlier in the year bu came across a bumble bee nest in the ground so decided to wait until they had vacated...
Before..
Clearing started..
Marking and digging out..
Underfelt and liner..
Filling from water butt..
Pebbles added..
Up to this point it had taken about 5 hours to make, but I had to wait for the pond plants to be delivered before I could continue. They arrived the following day so I got on with planting..
So now I am left with needing to trim the liner and sort out the concrete fence posts that the previous occupier panted for some reason!!
Posts
I don't think birds and insects and reptiles and amphibians are really bothered about whether there's stones / slabs, grass or plants or some combination around the edge, so long as they can access/ exit and get to the goodies contained therein.
But I've seen loads of ponds with turf right up to the water line and never heard of problems before.
When it rains and the water rises and touches the turf it gets sucked away again creating a boggy area, so you'll get grass pretty much up to the the water's edge.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Before..
Clearing started..
Marking and digging out..
Underfelt and liner..
Filling from water butt..
Pebbles added..
Up to this point it had taken about 5 hours to make, but I had to wait for the pond plants to be delivered before I could continue. They arrived the following day so I got on with planting..
So now I am left with needing to trim the liner and sort out the concrete fence posts that the previous occupier panted for some reason!!