Hi All,
Looking for thoughts of experienced Pondists for plants tips and pitfalls on what I’m proposing. Been waiting 10 years for the kids to finish with the trampoline so I can build my pond and that day has now come!
I’m planning a wildlife pond using mostly native plants and have no plans to introduce fish so looking at a fairly shallow maximum depth of 12” and lots of sloping margins of shallow water with deeper pools in the middle. It’s 5m long and 3.5m wide at the widest point and kidney shaped. I’ll use a pea gravel substrate of 1-2” and mostly plant directly into it. Edges will be granite setts as I already have these and I’m using geotextile and EDPM to line. There will be a solar pump for aeration and a bit of flow but no filter.
Much of the info online seems to be a cut and paste job but I did find this very good guide (note it says deep ponds are not advisable for wildlife - phew! 😂)
My exception to the above design is I’m not having grass edges, this is because I live in an area of Scotland with midges and waterlogged soil is asking for trouble.
The aspect is not ideal being adjacent to a huge north facing granite wall but there’s nothing I can do about that, it’s the only space available.
I broke ground earlier this week and have a skip on site for spoil, it’s slow as everything has to be borrowed but I’m making progress.
Plants I’m thinking of are Iris, Bogbean, a non native (smaller!) water lilly. Open to advice!
Cheers
Dave
Looking for thoughts of experienced Pondists for plants tips and pitfalls on what I’m proposing. Been waiting 10 years for the kids to finish with the trampoline so I can build my pond and that day has now come!
I’m planning a wildlife pond using mostly native plants and have no plans to introduce fish so looking at a fairly shallow maximum depth of 12” and lots of sloping margins of shallow water with deeper pools in the middle. It’s 5m long and 3.5m wide at the widest point and kidney shaped. I’ll use a pea gravel substrate of 1-2” and mostly plant directly into it. Edges will be granite setts as I already have these and I’m using geotextile and EDPM to line. There will be a solar pump for aeration and a bit of flow but no filter.
Much of the info online seems to be a cut and paste job but I did find this very good guide (note it says deep ponds are not advisable for wildlife - phew! 😂)
My exception to the above design is I’m not having grass edges, this is because I live in an area of Scotland with midges and waterlogged soil is asking for trouble.
The aspect is not ideal being adjacent to a huge north facing granite wall but there’s nothing I can do about that, it’s the only space available.
I broke ground earlier this week and have a skip on site for spoil, it’s slow as everything has to be borrowed but I’m making progress.
Plants I’m thinking of are Iris, Bogbean, a non native (smaller!) water lilly. Open to advice!
Cheers
Dave
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