How to create your own wildlife pond

If you have a large garden space, building a wildlife pond can be beneficial for a variety of reasons:

Enhancing biodiversity: They create habitats for more insects such as dragonflies, mayflies and other flying insects
A resource for wildlife: Ponds are great for mammals and birds to drink from – especially during heat waves
Breeding grounds: They provide a safe space for amphibians, like frogs and newts, to lay their eggs
They mitigate climate change: Ponds absorb carbon dioxide, meaning that there’s less in the atmosphere causing harm to the environment
Rainwater collection: They collect rain water, leading to less flooding of the garden and surrounding areas

Ponds like to be in partial shade/sun, its good for them to be in the sun for part of the day. If they’re in full sun all day, they can evaporate quickly in the summer. This isn’t a dealbreaker but you will need to top it up with rain water if it lowers.
Raised ponds can be great if you cannot dig into the soil/for a balcony. However, finding a spot where you can dig into the ground and create gradated edges is best. This will mean animals can get in and out easily.

Make whatever shape you want, just be mindful of how the liner fits in
Try to make the deepest spot around 60-70cm, and vary the depth in spots. You may want to make it tear drop shaped with a deep and shallow end
With the waste you can fill the bottom of raised beds, add it to your compost or just sprinkle it on the garden. But save a few handfuls for the end!

You can choose a hard or soft liner. Hard liners are more durable usually but with soft liners you can create your own shape and its easier to make the edges smoother
Ensure the soil has no stones sticking out, and that the soil is smooth
To ensure no rocks pierce the liner, you can use some sharp sand, clay, carpet or an extra liner at the bottom
Lay the liner in the hole. It’s ok if it wrinkles slightly, this usually smooths out once water has been added
If the liner is hard, just make sure all the gaps around it are filled
If its soft, cut the excess liner off but leave around 15cm – tuck this under the ground where the pond ends, or cover with the excess soil. This will mean animals can climb in and out easily and plants will populate the edges

Ideally, fill the wildlife pond with rain water from a water butt, then you’re ready to plant!
If you don’t have rainwater, you can fill it from the tap, just leave it for a week before you plant to allow the chlorine to evaporate
When in comes to plants, you’ll want a mix of oxygenating, marginal, and deep water plants, always choose UK native plants, otherwise you could end up with too much of one plant
Plants we would recommend using Water Forget Me Not, Purple Loosestrife and Marsh Marigold. If you’re struggling to source plants, see you if you find a friend with a pond to share plants with!

Initially, you may see a bit of an algae bloom. This is normal while a balance is found, it should go away in a few months. Just push the algae to the side to allow light to still get through to the plants
Even if you choose native species, in the winter/autumn you may need to remove some plants. Just take out half of which ever plant is overgrown and see if anyone else wants it!
You’ll need to wait to see what wildlife you will attract – you should see a big difference in the creatures visiting once your wildlife pond is established!