Going with the flow...

So. After approximately 5 years in the waiting with relatively fragmented planning, I set out one Saturday afternoon to dig a garden pond. I've had the area of the garden ear-marked for a while, it's a small space between the perimeter wall and the neighbour's fence; north facing and sheltered from the blasting south-westerly winds by a large overhanging Escallonia, a Pieris 'Forest Flame' and a small native Elder. When we first moved in the area was pretty overgrown, with ivy, forsythia and several heathers. Over the years I've been slowly removing all of this to make way for the long-awaited pond. Which somehow [despite really wanting to possess one] never made it the top of the to do list.

In mid-March I found myself encountering more amphibians in a week than I had in the years since leaving the ecology sector. On a canal walk with a friend in Linlithgow, we encountered a young male smooth newt in the middle of the walkway, and later that evening I joined another friend on my first Toad Patrol in the streets around Little France/Edinburgh Infirmary. Here we rescued many toads [as well as a flighty frog and, after being forced to share a bucket with an evergrowing pile of toads, a slightly squashed smooth newt] from residential street drains, before releasing them to nearby ponds to spawn. This definitely prompted my desire to house my own amphibians, so the very next day Operation Pond began.

I decided to document my endeavours, should anyone wish to embark on their own pond - happy to offer help, guidance and tips on what I would not do again.

1. This is roughly how the site looked when I started - with the loose intention of 'just clearing the area, definitely not up to digging a pond today' kind of vibe. The black plastic hemicircles were originally the lid to our watertank [replaced ages ago], I used them for over a year to suppress vegetation and make the digging easier.

2. Site is loosely cleared and a rough estimate of desired pond size is marked out. In this case I basically used the lid of the watertank as it was a good fit. I kept about half a metre away from the wall at the back and the fence to the left.

3. Dig the hole. There was surprisingly more soil than I expected [compared with other digging experiences in the garden]. The 'nice' soil was followed by a light coating of sand and then straight into clay. I love how clearly someone must have mentioned something about adding sand to clay soil when the gardens were being laid, but alas they forgot to mix both of them together...

4. The hole was getting deeper, but it was too narrow to allow much use of a mattock, so I ended up lifting most of the loose aggregate and large rocks out by spade and hand. I couldn't much beyond 47cm down, so I turned my attention outwards, excavating a wide shelf for plants to go and wildlife to climb out.

5. This was how things were looking after the first day. Roughly 1m2 in size and approximately 0.5m deep.

6. Still nothing had fallen in or got stuck several days later...

7. Although I was concerned that the shelf created quite a sharp drop, so I tried to reduce the drop on the north side by making it less steeply angled; suitable for climbing out of.

8. I had to wait several days for the pond underlay, liner and smooth sand to arrive as I wasn't sure how deep I 'd be able to dig down, which would affect measurements. While I waited, I dug a trench around the pond, about 30-40cm from edge. This was for tucking [hiding] the edge of the liner.

9. When the sand arrived, I spread a thick layer on the pond base and the shelf. It's important to use a soft play sand for this, as it basically acts as a cushioning layer for the liner. If you use sharp or horticultural sand it might puncture the liner! It hopefully goes without saying that you need to remove any sharp rock edges or pebbles to avoid liner tears.

10. Then came the liner underlay. I'm not sure if I did the calculations wrong somewhere [quite plausible] or the manufacturer expected me to use more underlay than I did, but I had loads of this stuff leftover! It's a right fiddle to lay; you have to take your shoes off to avoid excessive wear which causes holes. I possibly could have used a second sheet of underlay, but I didn't want to compromise on pond depth.

11. Then came the liner. It was perhaps unsurprisingly heavy and rather unwieldy! It took two attempts to get this right; you don't just need it to fill the hole, but there needs to be enough to overhang or stretch out once you add the water. Weirdly I had got the measurements just right for this [3m2].

12. I installed a wildlife emergency escape ramp - using a section of reptile climbing matting - made from seagrass, so should cope with being submerged. The liner was shaped to fit the hole [similar technique to lining a cake tin] and secured with rocks. I wasn't worried about too many folds - as apparently amphibians like to hid in those!

    
    

13. Then I just had to fill it with water. It was only really at this point that I realised I had installed the pond at the furthest possible location from the outdoor tap. There was a bit of hiatus with hoses, so I ended up just handballing all the water in a watering can. While the best practice is to use water that has been sitting for a while outside [for the chlorine to evaporate]; I didn't have this option, so instead I filled it up with tap water and then let it sit by itself [in the pond] for a week before adding plants. I had zero issues with water discolouration.

14. After filling it with water and leaving it to sit and settle for a couple of days [and while it stopped snowing and blowing a hoolie]; I trimmed the liner back to 40cm from the water edge.

15. And tucked or buried the liner under the bund at the back and in the trench at the front.

16. A week or so later, I potted up some plants and threw in a small pile of free floating, oxygenating plants. The water discoloured at this point, but it will settle back down.

If the planting looks a little haphazard - it's because I'm sorting out which pots fit best where. I do have an interesting planting scheme [for both inside and outside the water] - which I'll explain more about when the rest of the plants arrive!

A couple of notes to add about ponds:

• Pond depth: the internet is a confusing place when trying to work out the ideal depth for a wildlife pond. I can only assume pages that say you need to dig down 1m are not doing it by hand in a suburban back garden. You want different depths for different plants and animals; with not too many steep edges or sudden drops.

• Types of liner: There are many different types of liner available; it's worth considering your pond shape before choosing which one. The price range varies immensely from the relatively cheap flexi liners to the expensive butyl ones. I decided this was something not to scrimp on - as I didn't want the faff of having to repair or replace it! The EPDM liner is excellent for hand-dug ponds [not using a plastic insert] as it allows for moulding around shelves. It's also supposed to withstand sunlight better [although I'm planning to not have too much of it exposed to the sun], be more difficult for roots to pierce it, and finally, withstand wear and tear by wildlife. I bought the liner and underlay as part of a set, costing roughly £100.

Things I'd do differently next time:

• Remember to allocate space for the overhang of liner - I got tied up in thinking about the overall space that would be filled with water, forgetting about the tucking under/securing part.

• Have shelves at different heights - I have a singular shelf around the entire pond, which is probably great for wildlife but difficult for placing pots [as mine are currently too short!]