Hi Folks, Day 2 of the pond building project has gone well. Despite being very achey this morning I went out and with hubby's help started to dig out the rest of the soil. We did quite well but then Firstborn visited with the family and her hubby took pity on us and decided to get this hands dirty. Consequently the pond is all but dug out. We just need to do a bit of shaping at the beach end.
We have decided to use pebbles and welsh slate to edge the pond and hold the liner in place.
TinyGardenGirl, this is a picture of the wild area to the right of the pond.
Now we have te exact size of the pond we can order the liner and underlay. Priced some up at Webbs but it was far too expensive. Our local Aquatic shop seems to have closed down so we will be hitting the internet.
You can get pond liner in narrow widths, with pebbles & grit stuck into it for your shallow end, if that appeals. For my own pond in Northumberland, I just sloped the ordinary liner and tried to balance stones & pebbles on it; splashing birds kept knocking them down into the deep part of the pond. So when I built a pond for a customer I used a strip of this nobbly stuff, then put more stones on it as required, and they stayed in place much better. Just a thought...
I was thrilled to watch a diving beetle arrive in my new pond less than 12 hours after I'd filled it. It's magic!
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
The alternative to sloping the liner is to have a series of mini steps/terraces, flat instead of sloping, which will retain the substrate better. I prefer play sand to pebbles.
The beauty of the wildlife pond is that you don't mow near the edges, you need the grass to grow long and wild for little creatures to hide in. This was mine in less than two years of building it.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Thanks for all your comments. I'd quite like to remove that grass too Hosta but Hubby wants access to the pond from at least 3 sides and with his size 10's any plants would be squashed to a pulp. I'll be planting on the shelf all round the pond so hopefully it will look fine.
I am a bit concerned about the beach end and the fact that the pebbles might keep slipping in the water. Will take a look at that liner material Lily.
Didn't have a sloping area in my last pond and never found anything dead in the water. We had loads of frogs, newts etc, they used to scramble over the plants to get out.
This was the pond at my old house, it was really for fish not wildlife though it attracted an awful lot. It was much bigger than the one we are building now, but then the garden was large and could take it.
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Hi Folks, Day 2 of the pond building project has gone well. Despite being very achey this morning I went out and with hubby's help started to dig out the rest of the soil. We did quite well but then Firstborn visited with the family and her hubby took pity on us and decided to get this hands dirty. Consequently the pond is all but dug out.
We just need to do a bit of shaping at the beach end.
We have decided to use pebbles and welsh slate to edge the pond and hold the liner in place.
TinyGardenGirl, this is a picture of the wild area to the right of the pond.
Now we have te exact size of the pond we can order the liner and underlay. Priced some up at Webbs but it was far too expensive. Our local Aquatic shop seems to have closed down so we will be hitting the internet.
That's looking amazing, Yvie!
You can get pond liner in narrow widths, with pebbles & grit stuck into it for your shallow end, if that appeals. For my own pond in Northumberland, I just sloped the ordinary liner and tried to balance stones & pebbles on it; splashing birds kept knocking them down into the deep part of the pond. So when I built a pond for a customer I used a strip of this nobbly stuff, then put more stones on it as required, and they stayed in place much better. Just a thought...
I was thrilled to watch a diving beetle arrive in my new pond less than 12 hours after I'd filled it. It's magic!
Looking very good so far Yvie. Well done, but laybe rest those aching muscles for a day or so?
Liri's stony liner sounds clever.
The alternative to sloping the liner is to have a series of mini steps/terraces, flat instead of sloping, which will retain the substrate better. I prefer play sand to pebbles.
I think it looks FAB, but , if it were mine, I'd be tempted to remove the grass where the trug/ handbrush are and have planting right up to that edge.
The beauty of the wildlife pond is that you don't mow near the edges, you need the grass to grow long and wild for little creatures to hide in. This was mine in less than two years of building it.
Thanks for all your comments. I'd quite like to remove that grass too Hosta but Hubby wants access to the pond from at least 3 sides and with his size 10's any plants would be squashed to a pulp. I'll be planting on the shelf all round the pond so hopefully it will look fine.
I am a bit concerned about the beach end and the fact that the pebbles might keep slipping in the water. Will take a look at that liner material Lily.
Didn't have a sloping area in my last pond and never found anything dead in the water. We had loads of frogs, newts etc, they used to scramble over the plants to get out.
Lyn, our posts crossed, that looks beautiful.
This was the pond at my old house, it was really for fish not wildlife though it attracted an awful lot. It was much bigger than the one we are building now, but then the garden was large and could take it.
Oh wow - its looking so good already Yvie .....thats a lot of digging
Your garden is gorgeous - so much colour, and its only April