On a site this big, I think a much larger pond situated out in the lawn area would be much better than a small one in the corner. Don't make the mistake of digging a small, deep one, when a wider, shallower one is much better for wildlife. Maximum depth of 15" is plenty, with lots of areas under 6" deep and sloping as gently as possible to the edge - that way the levels can rise and fall naturally with rain/evaporation without topping up.
For my garden ponds I used EPDM (synthetic rubber, equivalent quality to butyl but cheaper) with Polyfelt underlay (very good quality) from Flexible Lining Products. The important thing is to make sure you get the levels right all the way round - a pond with a slope looks pretty stupid. Worth getting a good quality long spirit level.
It's also better to avoid planting in baskets - the 'traditional' goldfish/waterlily pond designs you see in gardening books are very substandard for wildlife by being too deep and too steep sided (partly because hedgehogs etc can fall in and drown, but mainly because most pond wildlife prefers very shallow water round the edge).
Like your thinking Gertie Grass ha ha. He is not a nice man. The old owner offered to each house hold in our group before it went to auction but never offered it to him because he was so nasty to them x
Of course, if the were fenced in - in a chicken run with a coop to roost in at night - they'd be more controllable and less susceptible to foxes and buzzards. I sometimes chuck them slugs when I'm in my friends' garden and they squabble over them (the hens squabble, not the friends).
Posts
Awww thank you both xx
Tetley - yes, by all means, if you're serious. And not too far away.
Provided I get paid in Tetley's.
Either.
Chickens are definitely not wildlife friendly! They do help with slugs and snails but they eat anything else that moves too, up to and including mice!
On a site this big, I think a much larger pond situated out in the lawn area would be much better than a small one in the corner. Don't make the mistake of digging a small, deep one, when a wider, shallower one is much better for wildlife. Maximum depth of 15" is plenty, with lots of areas under 6" deep and sloping as gently as possible to the edge - that way the levels can rise and fall naturally with rain/evaporation without topping up.
For my garden ponds I used EPDM (synthetic rubber, equivalent quality to butyl but cheaper) with Polyfelt underlay (very good quality) from Flexible Lining Products. The important thing is to make sure you get the levels right all the way round - a pond with a slope looks pretty stupid. Worth getting a good quality long spirit level.
It's also better to avoid planting in baskets - the 'traditional' goldfish/waterlily pond designs you see in gardening books are very substandard for wildlife by being too deep and too steep sided (partly because hedgehogs etc can fall in and drown, but mainly because most pond wildlife prefers very shallow water round the edge).
I did not know they eat mice.
Like your thinking Gertie Grass ha ha. He is not a nice man. The old owner offered to each house hold in our group before it went to auction but never offered it to him because he was so nasty to them x
They regularly tried to eat my shoelaces
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Of course, if the were fenced in - in a chicken run with a coop to roost in at night - they'd be more controllable and less susceptible to foxes and buzzards. I sometimes chuck them slugs when I'm in my friends' garden and they squabble over them (the hens squabble, not the friends).