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Ideas for making new build pond child proof

benjamin.pictono1LTXrHcbenjamin.pictono1LTXrHc Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Just completed my 1.2 x 1.2m pond build this afternoon, but am unsure about the best way to make it child safe on a budget. The top frame is not currently secured down.

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    A simple frame made with roofing battens or similar, and some chicken wire attached is the easiest way. You can leave a gap at the corner where that plant is if necessary.

    You can screw it onto your surround, and it can be removed easily when you need access etc
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    Was there a need for a pond if you have young children, Always worries me after a friend's child died in 2 inches of water
    A pebble pond would have been safer.
    As it's small you will need to access the pond to remove dead leaves etc and possibly blanket weed so it's no good putting a grid underneath.

  • Singing GardenerSinging Gardener Posts: 1,237
    We costructed a weldmesh cover for ours and for our daughter's pond. I don't think chicken wire is sttong enough.
  • Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
    edited August 2020
    benjamin.pictono1LTXrHc said:
    Just completed my 1.2 x 1.2m pond build this afternoon, but am unsure about the best way to make it child safe on a budget. The top frame is not currently secured down.
    Presumably it just needs to be done for a small number of years whilst the child becomes old enough to be able to recognise the risk and self-recover if falling in. I think I would perhaps put large stones in to make it safe for now, perhaps with a big saucer placed half under the fountain for the birds. Then in x years take them out and make eg a rockery or small alpine garden with the stones and return this to be a pond as above.

    Bigger stones still leave bits of water for frogs etc, and done well leave a route for them to clamber in and out.

    F
    “Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Some large stones would be fine. Kids have been fine withe ponds for many centuries.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Mine grew up with a pond, as have thousands of children.  A simple grid is all that's needed to stop anyone entering the pond. A small fence is another option, with vertical battens.
    It's also about educating and being with them. Young children shouldn't be allowed in any garden long term without supervision. 
    No different to letting them run riot in a kitchen with cupboards full of chemicals - which is every bit as dangerous  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I've been given a lecture about pond safety and making sure waterbutts were covered etc by the same people who bought us a paddling pool for the kids. :|
    I don't know how child safe OP's pond needs to be but if the kids are anything like mine then it will soon fill up with anything they can find to throw in there. Those solar lights would be in there as soon as I turned my back.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    A small child can drown in 2 ins of water such as an upturned dustbin lid. You cannot watch children every second. A friend had a son who fell in their pond throwing a ball for the dog. He was severely brain damaged and had to be nursed full time until he died when he was 12 yrs. It is not worth the risk of the heart break. Better to wait until the children are older. They will throw into the water what they should not and take out stones, pebbles etc. to build something else. That is what being a child is all about. My friend's husband could not understand why their 3 older children had all grown up with the pond and never had any accidents. A hard lesson to learn.
  • TimJamesTimJames Posts: 36
    What about a cover from creativepondcovers.co.uk



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