I've finally taken the plunge and started on a pond, I want to encourage a manner of creatures to my garden, especially frogs, and there's no better way of doing it than water.
Here's my progress so far
Step 1, clearing the area. This was part of the chicken run, so a days work went into pulling it down and disposing of it.
Step 2, rotavating and levelling the area.
Step 3, digging the hole. This was not easy, the ground was full of stones
Step 4, lining the hole
Step 5, filling the pond, I thought I had let enough buckets fill with rain water, they barely filled up the deep hole so unfortunately I resorted to using the tap to fill to the brim. Not ideal but better than no water (and I'm too impatient to wait for more rain). The water is incredibly murky, assuming a mix of what was in the buckets and I hadn't washed the gravel well enough.
Looking good! Once it all settles down it will be wonderful & it is surprising how quickly the wildlife find a pond. As Richard said you might want to put a ramp in the shallow end for animals to get back out if they fall in, I'm thinking more of hedgehogs, they can swim but may not be able to get out if the sides are slippy. Look forward to seeing more photos as it progresses. Well done & in such "soggy" circumstances!! That's commitment!!
The rocks did actually go in yesterday but by the time I was finished it was dark. The furthest big rock slopes in like a ramp and has a nice cavern like bit underneath it which I assume the frogs might like, the flat rock next to it has a bump which lifts it and allows for room underneath too.
There's now also a water lily in the deepest part and some oxygenating weeds dotted about.
I plan on getting native plants like yellow flag iris, water forget me not, frogbit, and maybe a few others. Don't want to go mad with it because in time it will either show up randomly or spread and need removing from the pond.
Weekend jobs include finding a few more plants, setting up a small water spitter/feature for a bit of water movement and noise, building a large insect hotel (mansion!), a log pile, and putting down a bench so I can relax
Interesting the way things do appear naturally. I'm not even sure that OH intended a pond when he dug a 'dingley dell' but each year the winter puddle grew and took longer to dry up. Then the reed mace (that people call bull rush though botanists insist it's not) appeared, and spread. And some sort of grassy reed and pond weed. And newts etc.
My grandson was helping me pull out excess reed-mace but I showed him what was inside the seed heads and he had a great time with it, so no doubt there will be loads more.
I've started working on a huge wildlife hotel that I'll take a photo of in the morning, and I'm looking into these "bumblebee nest box" things. I don't like many of what I've found but some websites are saying to use a pot with a hose coming out the bottom for them to get into
Now from what I understand they like to use old mouse nests and are attracted by the scent of mice. I don't have ready access to mouse nests but I do have access to my hamsters bedding, what are the chances they'll be attracted to their scent? If so that's a super easy way for me to set up a nest or two
Sorry for the slow update, here's just a few photos. Not managed to get anything else done in the garden, horrible weather
As you can see it's not done yet. I've done the top so I can plant it up, thinking bee friendly alpines or loads of herbs. I'm also going to hang pots/planters on the side for herbs.
I just want it to not rain on my very few days off so I can get it finished.
Still no frogs, but I found a slow worm so can't complain too much
We need more garden ponds, as many as we can safely have (small children permitting). They are invaluable for wildlife, from birds to bees to the things that actually live in them.