My Wildlife Pond

I was one of the lucky people who received a free pond starter kit in 2024 and I would like to share my experiences.

Why do I have a pond?
This is something I’d had in mind for the past few years but did nothing until inspired by the gardening for biodiversity talk in Buckland in June 2024.
 
How did I select the location?
I’d read that the more sun the better and knowing how many leaves fall from my trees I decided to put it in the middle of the garden. The preferred position would allow it to be observed from the house but I’d already converted most of the lawn to a meadow (it’s just a wildflower area really!) which partly blocks the view from the house.
 
How was the hole dug?
By me with just a spade. I started in July 2024 but the ground was too hard. I resumed in September but by late October it became too cold (for my poor hands!), so I did nothing more until March 2025. One advantage of having the liner down by October is that the pond filled with rainwater over the winter.
 
What shape is the pond?
Roughly circular with a stoney ramp to the wildlife corridor. The centre of the pond is over 0.5m deep with a ledge about 0.25m deep; the diameter is about 2m.
The wildlife corridor joins it long grass and shrubs.
 
What happened to the turf and spoil?
The turf went around the pond to create a bee bank (turf on top of some building sand). The spoil was scattered around the garden. It’s only have a small garden but managed to recycle everything.

How much did it cost me?
Absolutely nothing! The liner and most of the plants were courtesy of the 4B’s gardening for biodiversity. If I had bought these it would have cost me around £40. Pots and aquatic compost came from another 4Bs enthusiast. The surround is rocks that I’ve collected over the past few years (yes, I had a pond in mind for ages!). A few plants have been added and these have been family gifts (I thankfully have a birthday in March!). Freecyle was also a good source!
 
Any wildlife so far?
The pond has proved very popular with cats and birds looking for a drink. Of course, the cats aren’t wild but they act like it in my garden!
 
As soon as I added tall flag irises then dragonflies were attracted.There might be a few tiny beasties that over-wintered in the deep section but maybe there’ll be more when word gets around that there’s free accommodation on offer! I put a boulder in  the deep section, and together with lots of sunken leaves, this is a perfect combination for hibernation apparently.

What have I learnt?
Because I was eager to finish in 2024, I didn’t dig as deep as I wanted and cut the liner too soon. I should have planned the position for the pond before creating the wildflower patch.

The amount of evaporation was overlooked in warmer months - this year has been particulary dry and hot. This is reduced by having murky water and minimising the amount of water surface (eg floating lilies are a good idea).
​
I overlooked the need to oxygenate the water but several yellow flag irises are remedying that.
 
I forgot to get a blanket to underlie the liner, so instead I used a lot of towels beneath the liner (to stop sharp stones puncturing it) – I’m sure professionals use bedding sand!
 
Now it is established I have enjoyed contemplating my small wildlife pond. I can honestly say that the benefits to me and to wildlife, far exceed the time, effort and cost in building one.        

Kevin Clarke is an active member of the 4Bs Nature Group and a recent recruit to the 4Bs Biodiversity Initiative Team