I think we need a summer before we can have bbq or digging party. A lot of the backfill will be used to landscape and level the area, I'll try and post a picture ( when it stops raining ) to give you an idea of what the area looks like
If I'm thinking of the same winter, we were snowed in for three days, which doesn't sound too bad, but we live in a fairly large city. I've read somewhere one way to keep a hole in the ice is to boil a pan of water and use the pan to melt a hole in the ice
That pond and garden looks great I hope that I can manage to create garden like that one day, but at the moment I think it's a bit beyond my skill level. It's interesting to see the different stages of the pond construction
Some of us can only get 'stupidly tiny' ponds in their gardens. Besides, it wasn't the size of the pond that caused the deaths of so many frogs two years ago, but a combination of factors. My pond is just under a metre deep, about a metre and a half wide and 3m long, it didn't freeze solid but all the frogs died. My friend has a pond 4m square and almost 2m deep and he lost all his frogs too. I go out with a pan of hot water now when the pond freezes, as much for the birds and other mammals as for the frogs and I also use an old pop bottle with gravel in that bobs about in the water and helps stop the ice forming.
Finally managed to gain control of the tv and catch up on recorded shows, I watched gardeners world and with interest the part with Kate's wildlife garden. I always thought that a water pump was a massive no no, but it showed a small stream running into the pond, is there some type of wildlife friendly water pump?
Also with what cufcskim posted is there a minimum size for a pond?
Really you can have a pond of any size you want. Some people can only have tiny ponds in their gardens but the biggest you can fit in the better. Normally wildlife ponds don't have pumps but if you want to create a stream effect like wildlife kate then you have to have one (unless you're lucky enough to have a natural stream running through the garden). I use a small floating solar fountain to help keep the algae and duckweed down and I believe you can get solar pumps but I'm not sure how effective they are.
You'be mentioned that there might be clay as you go down. You ought to know whether your garden is on clay. This is an important point.
Clay is hard to excavate. You might start out with good intentions of making a deep pond, and then, when you start trying to exacavate the clay, you may well revise your plans, and decide to make the pond a lot shallower than you'd intended.
You can't actually dig clay. If the weather is dry, then clay is like concrete. So it's a job for a pick. If the weather is damp, then clay will be sticky and heavy. It's difficult to stand on wet clay, as wellington boots stick to it. And if it starts raining, the water will not drain away. So you'll have a pond to stand in while you try to work.
Also you said you might use the excavated material to landscape the area. If the material is clay, then you won't be able to grow anything on it. In my garden the topsoil is about 9 inches deep; that much is usable for landscaping, but anything deeper is not. You could dig a small test hole in advance and find out what you've got.
You need to hope that you won't encounter these issues, or that they won't turn out be too much of a problem.
I'll dig a trial hole when I get chance and let you know what I've found. If it is clay I'll have to get some top soil to cover any landscaping I do. If I do go for a pump, I'm not too sure a solar pump will be strong enough especially in the winter time with the longer nights. I'm sure I'll be able to find a low power pump to run a small stream. I've already been told the pond can't take over the garden, so I think I'll be sticking to my original 3 x 2 size, well maybe an extra 0.5m here or there won't make too much a difference
Good luck, whatever you end up with! My pond is my favourite spot in the garden, apart from having plants there that won't grow anywhere else, I'm just like a kid when it comes to peering into the depths to watch tadpoles and beetles. I love seeing the little frog heads popping up amongst the duck weed, watching the birds bathing, bees drinking and damsel and dragonflies flitting about; you're going to get hours of enjoyment!!!!
I have a natural pond 4 feet in depth x 25 feet in diameter. There is no liner, just clay. My question is: can I successfully use a water pump to pump to a height of 3 feet above water line to create oxygen, as well as, using x 2 large air stones and the rest is nature, i.e. lily's, marginals, oxygenating weed etc.
I have a small wild life pond that I have a water butt running clean rain water off the roof to a lower water butt that then by a hose pipe at the few inches from the top of the butt. We let the water fill the top butt and the overflow water goes down the pipe to the bottom butt and overflows into the pond keeping it clear (after years of fighting dirty pond syndrome)I still use the water from the butts to water the garden but any heavy rain re-fills and excess runs in to the pond . I have frogs ,newts, water boat men and other insects and no longer have to use chemicals.
Posts
Just found this nice little website showing how a family have turned their bland city garden into a wildlife haven, including a pond...
http://www.ourpond.co.uk/index.php?1
I think we need a summer before we can have bbq or digging party. A lot of the backfill will be used to landscape and level the area, I'll try and post a picture ( when it stops raining ) to give you an idea of what the area looks like
If I'm thinking of the same winter, we were snowed in for three days, which doesn't sound too bad, but we live in a fairly large city. I've read somewhere one way to keep a hole in the ice is to boil a pan of water and use the pan to melt a hole in the ice
That pond and garden looks great I hope that I can manage to create garden like that one day, but at the moment I think it's a bit beyond my skill level. It's interesting to see the different stages of the pond construction
John
Some of us can only get 'stupidly tiny' ponds in their gardens. Besides, it wasn't the size of the pond that caused the deaths of so many frogs two years ago, but a combination of factors. My pond is just under a metre deep, about a metre and a half wide and 3m long, it didn't freeze solid but all the frogs died. My friend has a pond 4m square and almost 2m deep and he lost all his frogs too.
I go out with a pan of hot water now when the pond freezes, as much for the birds and other mammals as for the frogs and I also use an old pop bottle with gravel in that bobs about in the water and helps stop the ice forming.
Finally managed to gain control of the tv and catch up on recorded shows, I watched gardeners world and with interest the part with Kate's wildlife garden. I always thought that a water pump was a massive no no, but it showed a small stream running into the pond, is there some type of wildlife friendly water pump?
Also with what cufcskim posted is there a minimum size for a pond?
Really you can have a pond of any size you want. Some people can only have tiny ponds in their gardens but the biggest you can fit in the better. Normally wildlife ponds don't have pumps but if you want to create a stream effect like wildlife kate then you have to have one (unless you're lucky enough to have a natural stream running through the garden). I use a small floating solar fountain to help keep the algae and duckweed down and I believe you can get solar pumps but I'm not sure how effective they are.
You'be mentioned that there might be clay as you go down. You ought to know whether your garden is on clay. This is an important point.
Clay is hard to excavate. You might start out with good intentions of making a deep pond, and then, when you start trying to exacavate the clay, you may well revise your plans, and decide to make the pond a lot shallower than you'd intended.
You can't actually dig clay. If the weather is dry, then clay is like concrete. So it's a job for a pick. If the weather is damp, then clay will be sticky and heavy. It's difficult to stand on wet clay, as wellington boots stick to it. And if it starts raining, the water will not drain away. So you'll have a pond to stand in while you try to work.
Also you said you might use the excavated material to landscape the area. If the material is clay, then you won't be able to grow anything on it. In my garden the topsoil is about 9 inches deep; that much is usable for landscaping, but anything deeper is not. You could dig a small test hole in advance and find out what you've got.
You need to hope that you won't encounter these issues, or that they won't turn out be too much of a problem.
I'll dig a trial hole when I get chance and let you know what I've found. If it is clay I'll have to get some top soil to cover any landscaping I do. If I do go for a pump, I'm not too sure a solar pump will be strong enough especially in the winter time with the longer nights. I'm sure I'll be able to find a low power pump to run a small stream. I've already been told the pond can't take over the garden, so I think I'll be sticking to my original 3 x 2 size, well maybe an extra 0.5m here or there won't make too much a difference
Good luck, whatever you end up with! My pond is my favourite spot in the garden, apart from having plants there that won't grow anywhere else, I'm just like a kid when it comes to peering into the depths to watch tadpoles and beetles. I love seeing the little frog heads popping up amongst the duck weed, watching the birds bathing, bees drinking and damsel and dragonflies flitting about; you're going to get hours of enjoyment!!!!
Hi
I have a natural pond 4 feet in depth x 25 feet in diameter. There is no liner, just clay. My question is: can I successfully use a water pump to pump to a height of 3 feet above water line to create oxygen, as well as, using x 2 large air stones and the rest is nature, i.e. lily's, marginals, oxygenating weed etc.
Thank you in advance
Ivor
I have a small wild life pond that I have a water butt running clean rain water off the roof to a lower water butt that then by a hose pipe at the few inches from the top of the butt. We let the water fill the top butt and the overflow water goes down the pipe to the bottom butt and overflows into the pond keeping it clear (after years of fighting dirty pond syndrome)I still use the water from the butts to water the garden but any heavy rain re-fills and excess runs in to the pond . I have frogs ,newts, water boat men and other insects and no longer have to use chemicals.