It’s a great time of year to build a pond, and water plants that are available now may well start to run out by October or November, so get in there while stocks are good. Here are five steps to creating a simple and attractive garden pond:
- Dig a hole to hip-height – this depth is necessary so that there’s room for silt to fall to the bottom.
- Line the hole with soft sand, like you’re plastering a wall. Water is heavy, and this keeps the lining from snagging on stones.
- Line with plastic sheeting, taking care that the sheeting won’t cave in when you put in water. Hold the lining in place by putting pebbles and rockery around the edges.
- Add the water – it will look brown and unattractive at first, but don’t panic! It will settle.
- Leave for a couple of days, and once the water is clearer you can buy your water plants and put them in. It’s preferable to use oxygenating plants instead of an electric pump if possible, as this is a more natural way of keeping the water clear. But if your pond goes cloudy, you can get an electrician to fit an electric pump at a later date. Once everything’s settled and you’ve got plenty of plants, you can introduce fish.
Here’s a pond we created in a garden in East Hagbourne near Didcot, Oxfordshire.
Digging and shaping the hole.
Lining with soft sand.
Laying down lining sheeting.
Adding pebbles.
Adding water.
Finishing pebbles around edges.
Adding plants.
