Starting A Small Garden Pond

The wildlife trust says that you should have a minimum of 4 5 square metres of water which would be a pond about 6ft across.

Starting a small garden pond.

These galvanized water troughs are a popular choice right now. This pond was built in an old hot tub. Below you will find the steps for how to build a small pond. But the rspb says that any water is helpful.

Build up the waterfall and fill in the area around the pond with rocks to make it look more natural and hide the liners. Dig out an area for your pond according to the plan that you are following. Your pond will need an access area for frogs and other creatures to get in and out. Choose a location a miniature garden pond should be located where it can get four to six hours of sunlight.

Even a washing up bowl is big enough to be a wildlife pond. When the hole is dug make sure there aren t any stones or sharp objects that could puncture the lining. Keeping it attractive and trouble free takes work but with a little extra care at the planning and building stages you can create a pond that s almost maintenance free. This will help to keep the pond healthy and clean.

Avoid placing the pond where runoff from rain will run into the water. This will depend on the size and depth of the pond if you need to buy materials like rocks to line the pond and the cost of any landscaping and plants both for the pond and surrounding it. And the wildlife themselves seem to agree. You could build an inground 4 6 foot pond using a pond form and a submersible pump for a few hundred dollars.

You only need one or two plants. Great plants for small ponds include miniature waterlily nymphaea pygmaea helvola lesser spearwort ranunculus flammula starwort callitriche stagnalis flowering rush butomus umbellatus click here for more plant ideas. A backyard garden pond with running water floating plants and darting fish can make a bland space breathtaking. It is best to put in plants in special aquatic plant pots which have mesh sides.

Gather the necessary materials like pond underlayment pond liner a shovel coping stones a filter system and pond plants. I made my above ground pond by building a raised garden bed and inserting a prefabricated pond form like the one pictured above also called a rigid pond liner. For this pond we re using large flagstones filling in and supporting them with smaller beach pebbles. Dig your pond so the the edges gradually taper down if possible.

The space you dig should have a depth of at least 2 feet. We re also using egg rock and pea gravel. Now watch and wait. Line the interior of the pond with the pond underlayment and liner.

Building your own small pond. Wildlife will come to your pond of its own accord. Plant up your pond. A natural slope from the water s edge is the best solution.

Above ground ponds can be built in any water tight large container. You can buy these from garden centres or specialist pond suppliers. We ll use pond foam to seal things together.