Fairygirl - yes there is a star jasmine planted just to the left, and an english wild honeysuckle planted just to the right. I'm hoping that these will form the main backdrop to the pond, and give some shelter to the birds.
Lynn - no I've not come across that book. I read through Jenny Steel's short book on Wildlife Ponds, and used sites like www.froglife.org, and read through many of the threads relating to ponds on here.
I also found the idea for the hibernaculum in the following video really useful:
We're hoping the several smooth newts we found in the Autumn whilst digging over the garden will return and make a home for themselves in and around the new pond.
Thanks Fairygirl, I really hope they do. We've consistently found newts under paving slabs in the garden over the last few years, so I hope we will get some newt spawn in the pond later in the year.
I am a keen water gardener and have had several lined ponds in various places
You have 2 choices
1 6 in minimum depth of soil over the liner and grow things in it. That will give best "wild" effect and is very low maintenance, but unless your pond is huge will gradually silt up and overgrow. If you do not have 2ft or more of water over it, the bottom layer will quickly become overgrown and you will end up with a swamp with no clear water, rather than a pond. Very beautiful and wildlife friendly (you will get newts, toads, frogs, and probably dragon flies as well), but not really still a pond.
2. keep liner bare and clean, grow all of your plants in baskets and lift them all out in jan-mar, clean the liner and separate/thin the baskets. If you are going for option 2 then as far as possible the bottom of the pond should be laid in horizontal shelves to put the baskets on. This option is best if you want water lillies, plant them in baskets just below the surface and move them to deeper water progressively as they grow.
For a lined garden pond, sand makes a pretty good clean base for establishing plants in. I've used play sand which is very clean, sinks straight away and doesn't cloud the water at all - builder's sand is unsuitable. About 2" deep in the shallow/marginal areas is fine - I don't bother with covering the pond base because that silts up soon enough anyway.
In reply to Graham Griggs, "If you do not have 2ft or more of water over it, the bottom layer will quickly become overgrown and you will end up with a swamp with no clear water, rather than a pond"
2' deep or more is really far too much for a small pond, since by far the most wildlife lives around the shallower margins and among the dense water plants. 15" at the deepest is fine, with a large % of the area much less than that. Yes, you will get quite a lot of plant growth, but periodic de-silting / plant removal can keep it under control. Using sand rather than soil, rainwater rather than tapwater, and not planting in soil-filled baskets also reduces the amount of nutrients going into the pond which helps to reduce the vigour of plant/algal growth.
I think part of what puts people off digging a large pond is the perception that they have to excavate some enormous volume of soil to 3' deep or so, when really they'd be much better off putting the same amount of effort into a pond that was wider and shallower with much gentler gradients.
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That's really nice Lucid, did you use the Alex Sally book?
Its amazing how the water gets so clear after adding the plants.
Fairygirl - yes there is a star jasmine planted just to the left, and an english wild honeysuckle planted just to the right. I'm hoping that these will form the main backdrop to the pond, and give some shelter to the birds.
Lynn - no I've not come across that book. I read through Jenny Steel's short book on Wildlife Ponds, and used sites like www.froglife.org, and read through many of the threads relating to ponds on here.
I also found the idea for the hibernaculum in the following video really useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8yY50brPvA
We're hoping the several smooth newts we found in the Autumn whilst digging over the garden will return and make a home for themselves in and around the new pond.
Lucid
Lovely - I'm sure the newts will be desperate to get back into their nice revamped 5 star hotel Lucid
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks Fairygirl, I really hope they do. We've consistently found newts under paving slabs in the garden over the last few years, so I hope we will get some newt spawn in the pond later in the year.
Lucid
I am a keen water gardener and have had several lined ponds in various places
You have 2 choices
1 6 in minimum depth of soil over the liner and grow things in it. That will give best "wild" effect and is very low maintenance, but unless your pond is huge will gradually silt up and overgrow. If you do not have 2ft or more of water over it, the bottom layer will quickly become overgrown and you will end up with a swamp with no clear water, rather than a pond. Very beautiful and wildlife friendly (you will get newts, toads, frogs, and probably dragon flies as well), but not really still a pond.
2. keep liner bare and clean, grow all of your plants in baskets and lift them all out in jan-mar, clean the liner and separate/thin the baskets. If you are going for option 2 then as far as possible the bottom of the pond should be laid in horizontal shelves to put the baskets on. This option is best if you want water lillies, plant them in baskets just below the surface and move them to deeper water progressively as they grow.
Is there really any need to clean the liner? Isn't a dirty liner part of the necessary balance of having a wildlife pond?
For a lined garden pond, sand makes a pretty good clean base for establishing plants in. I've used play sand which is very clean, sinks straight away and doesn't cloud the water at all - builder's sand is unsuitable. About 2" deep in the shallow/marginal areas is fine - I don't bother with covering the pond base because that silts up soon enough anyway.
In reply to Graham Griggs, "If you do not have 2ft or more of water over it, the bottom layer will quickly become overgrown and you will end up with a swamp with no clear water, rather than a pond"
2' deep or more is really far too much for a small pond, since by far the most wildlife lives around the shallower margins and among the dense water plants. 15" at the deepest is fine, with a large % of the area much less than that. Yes, you will get quite a lot of plant growth, but periodic de-silting / plant removal can keep it under control. Using sand rather than soil, rainwater rather than tapwater, and not planting in soil-filled baskets also reduces the amount of nutrients going into the pond which helps to reduce the vigour of plant/algal growth.
I think part of what puts people off digging a large pond is the perception that they have to excavate some enormous volume of soil to 3' deep or so, when really they'd be much better off putting the same amount of effort into a pond that was wider and shallower with much gentler gradients.