Making a Wildlife Pond

If you read articles on making your garden wildlife friendly it will not be long before you are told that introducing a pond is one of the best things you can do. You will be amazed at how quickly it is colonised by insects and even amphibians – when we made one the newts moved in so quickly that I can’t remember the pond being without them.

So, a pond is wonderful for wildlife. The second great thing is that ponds are not difficult to make. We dug a hole, used liner with fleece above and below (to protect the liner) and held the rim in place with rocks found in the garden. If you want a fun afternoon with the kids, then make a small one with something as simple as a bowl or pot. You don’t even have to sink them into the ground but do make sure you provide stones or logs so that animals can get into and out of your pond! And, by the way, forget the fish – they will eat the wildlife.

Also consider boggy patches and ditches – these encourage wildlife and make a great surround for at least one side of your pond.

You can find all sorts of videos and instructions on making ponds on the internet by simply searching for something like ‘how to build a wildlife pond’. One I particularly like because it covers large and small ponds, together with those ditches and boggy patches, is the RSPB’s web page on ponds: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/water-for-wildlife/making-a-pond/

A great leaflet to print off if needed, again with instructions for large and mini ponds and lots of other useful information, can be found here at Wild About Gardens: https://www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-08/Wild%20About%20Gardens%20Big%20or%20Small%20Ponds%20for%20all%20booklet.pdf

Here are their instructions for a mini pond:

Building a Medium Sized Pond

Having built a medium-sized pond, 3.5m by 1.5m, there are a couple of tips I’d share. Firstly, don’t dig more than is necessary. Many of us around here have sloping gardens and piling what you dig out on the downside of the pond (and compacting it as much as you can) means you only have to dig out half as much! Those slopes remind me of another tip – keep a plank and spirit level handy to check and understand where the water level will be. You don’t want it all flowing out because you didn’t realise that one side was much higher than the other! Lastly, make sure part of the pond is deep (50-60cm) if you want to provide overwintering for newts, but make sure most of it is shallower shelves with gently sloping sides for plants and other wildlife. We made ours too deep and steep-sided and many of the plants sit on blocks as a result, not that it has stopped the wildlife loving it.

Rainwater is best (tap water has nutrients which encourage algae) so maybe collect some in advance in a butt if you have one, or in a bowl if you are making a mini pond – or simply let your pond fill with rain.
And above all else, have fun building it and enjoy all the wildlife that arrives.

Building a Mini Pond

I too have built a pond. I had an old porcelain sink hanging around in my garden so I decided to make a container pond. You could use half an old whiskey barrel or metal tank from a reclamation yard or check out Freecycle on the internet.

Firstly double check the container is watertight. Next, position your container in a good spot. Aquatic invertebrates and amphibians love to bask in shallow sun drenched margins of a pond first thing in the morning so position any water feature away from early shade. When you are happy with the location think about accessibility . You will need to create an easy route to the pond edge. I piled up logs stones and bark around mine. As well as thinking about how creatures reach the pond you will need to create a route out of the container too so that creatures that enter the pond aren't struggling to get a foothold on a steep smooth wall. A sloping pile of stones or bricks works well.

Finally what to plant in a small container? You will need some emergent vegetation (plants that stand above the water line) such as hard rush or purple loosestrife, to allow insects such as dragon flies and damselflies to crawl up when hatch. You could plant brookline for newts to lay their eggs on, or water mint to attract holly blue butterflies. You will also need a good oxygenator like hornwort or spiked water milfoil. Make sure you use aquatic compost when planting up the baskets.

One of the great things about a container pond is that maintenance is minimal. You may need to remove the odd bit of blanket weed, or cut back an enthusiastic plant. A word of caution though, please do not throw any shop bought pond plants into natural water sources, lakes or rivers.
During the summer the water may need topping up. It may be worth keeping a water butt for this purpose but if all else fails, tap water will do. I can't wait to see what my little pond does this year.

Article by Steve Best and Nicky Boulton

For useful links to websites providing pond-making advice, please click here