Making a Wildlife Pond
1. Choosing the site:
We had a boggy part of the garden that kept becoming full of yellow flag iris and various grasses, including one we mistakenly called “cotton grass” and I was attempting to dig them all out so that we could start again. There was no particular plan and it was hard work because the rhizomes of the flags were so tough and woody, while the spiky stems of the grass plant were leathery and grew in enormous solid clumps with deep roots. But once we had decided that this would be good place for a wildlife pond then the hard work of clearing the site began to feel well worthwhile. The pictures show the pond roughly outlined with white cable and some wooden pegs defining the proposed finished water level. It was going to be approximately 2.7m long by 1.8m wide (9ft X 6ft) and 0.75m (30inch) at its deepest point. We had read lots of books and leaflets etc about ponds some time before starting and knew that it was good to have a very deep spot where amphibians could survive cold winters when the water might be frozen as ice at the surface. Although there are a couple of small trees nearby nothing would overhang the water very much and there was plenty of open space above it for the sun to warm the water enough for certain water plants to grow.
To be continued...
1. Choosing the site:
We had a boggy part of the garden that kept becoming full of yellow flag iris and various grasses, including one we mistakenly called “cotton grass” and I was attempting to dig them all out so that we could start again. There was no particular plan and it was hard work because the rhizomes of the flags were so tough and woody, while the spiky stems of the grass plant were leathery and grew in enormous solid clumps with deep roots. But once we had decided that this would be good place for a wildlife pond then the hard work of clearing the site began to feel well worthwhile. The pictures show the pond roughly outlined with white cable and some wooden pegs defining the proposed finished water level. It was going to be approximately 2.7m long by 1.8m wide (9ft X 6ft) and 0.75m (30inch) at its deepest point. We had read lots of books and leaflets etc about ponds some time before starting and knew that it was good to have a very deep spot where amphibians could survive cold winters when the water might be frozen as ice at the surface. Although there are a couple of small trees nearby nothing would overhang the water very much and there was plenty of open space above it for the sun to warm the water enough for certain water plants to grow.
To be continued...
While marking out the site include regularly spaced pegs showing the proposed water level of the pond.
Don't be surprised if you discover a lot of buried builders' rubble as you dig deeper down.
An aerial view of the intended site of the wildlife pond. The plastic edges of an original pre-formed pond can be just made out at the back.
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