How to create a pond

Firstly, you need to find a sunny position for your pond in order to attract the greatest variety of wildlife. To reduce extra maintenance on your pond, it is advisable to position it away from trees. A pond built near longer grass or a border will give cover to those animals who come to drink and bathe. A wood pile, rockery or pile of leaves near a pond will also provide extra cover for hibernating newts and amphibians.

Once you have decided where to site your pond, you can then start the building process following the these steps:  

• dig a shallow hole for your pond with a sloping edge on at least one side of the pond so that animals can get in and out easily. It's also a good idea to have shelved sections of the pond to create varing depths to suit different plants and wildlife.
• The middle of the pond needs to be dug to at least 60cm deep, so that it doesn't freeze solid in winter. A deeper section of the pond will also help hibernating wildlife.
• Line the hole with a good quality pond liner, which has good weathering resistance and is non-toxic to wildlife and plants.
• Fill your pond with rainwater if possible. If you have to fill your pond with tap water, leave it to stand for a few days so that additives such as chlorine evaporate.
• Plant a mixture of oxygenating, floating and marginal plants to get a good variety of wildlife and keep your pond in balance. Native pond plants include marsh marigold, yellow flag, hornwort, water violet and frogbit.
• Then , leave it to nature to find your pond themselves. Dragonflies and damselflies are usually the first insects to colonise ponds and other species will follow.

Your wildlife pond will require maintenance to keep it thriving through all seasons. If your pond gets covered in blanket weed, clear it out by hand rather than using chemicals. Before throwing the cleared out weed onto the compost heap, leave it on the edge of the pond for a few days so that any creatures caught up in it can crawl back into the water. Fallen leaves need to be cleared out regularly so you don't get too many rotting at the bottom of the pond.  

Prevent your pond from icing over completely in winter by floating a tennis ball on the surface. Remove it to leave an air hole in ice that does form. Avoid breaking the ice as the reverberations can disturb pond life.

For more tips and information related to ponds, visit Pond Liners Online Blog