Mega Pond!

I always try to tread lightly in the landscape, but there are times when needs must, and this was one of them.

A pond is such a beautiful and important part of a wildlife garden that it was one of the first things we put in when we moved here. It had a practical function too, holding some run off from the field next door which would have otherwise ended up in our cellar or shot down the lane. At times this winter there was a torrent heading down the road anyway. When it really rains - it being Somerset - there's a spring that pops into life too.   

Our first effort at making a pond was pretty rudimentary. We dug a decent sized hole and used a plastic liner. It never worked terribly well, and water kept getting under the liner as we hadn't built it properly. It got to be an embarrassing mess. 

Mark 2 was even more basic; we thought that as we're on solid clay we'd bin the liner and pack the clay down to seal it. This might have been simple and brilliant, were it not for the field drains we belatedly discovered under it. 

One of our local farming friends suggested waiting for it to seal. Looking at the cost of putting it right, this was alluring advice. For four years we waited, watching water seep from it down the lane. It filled, it emptied. It filled, it emptied. This seemed to suit the Reed Canary grass, which took over. Our embarrassment as purveyors of pond plants grew. As did our frustration.  

Anyway, in Spring we bit the bullet and decided - finally - to tackle it properly. Pond Mark 3 was going to be bigger and deeper and much, much better. We wanted proper access around it, and to expand the meadow area next to it - by regrading the slope which had become just scrub (which we've got enough of elsewhere!). 

We hired pond specialist Perry James, who made short work of it. Perry has created a spanking new pond, much deeper and bigger than before. Proper butyl liner, underliner drainage, etc etc.The sides are gently sloping to a maximum depth of 1.4m; shallow enough for wildlife, deep enough so it won't overheat. I can't wait for it to start filling up, as it presents so many planting opportunities. We'll be using our coir mats for at least some areas, with baskets in deeper sections. 

There's been a lot of earth moving involved, which we've taken advantage of to create areas of grotty low fertility subsoil to be sown with more wildflower meadow seed. We'll be building a couple of hibernacula too. All good.

I'll keep you posted.