You might think that making a wildlife pond in your garden is a major undertaking, both in terms of financial outlay and time and energy taken.
I can assure you that it doesn't have to be a big job.
This pond went from a delivery in a cardboard box to complete in under an hour and a half, and the whole thing cost around £40.
First, the pond liner from Amazon:
I also got some oxygenating pond plants:
1. Decide on your spot. You want somewhere that gets some sunlight, but not all-day direct sunlight otherwise it will get pretty warm and evaporate quite quickly, as well as going green. Of course, you can dig a hole and sink your pond into the ground if you want. I've done this in the front garden with exactly the same type of liner. However, you don't HAVE to do this, and it's absolutely possible to put a simple pond on a patio. Mine is in a gravelled corner next to a wall and near an olive tree.
2. Build up some support underneath. I was considering buying some 2x4 timber and building a support for my pond, but decided that with the curvy edges that didn't fit with the "easy project" I was looking for. However, you need to bear in mind that water is heavy, so you will need something underneath your liner to give it some support around the edges. I put some bricks underneath the shelved areas and built up with some rubble that we've had stacked against the wall for a couple of years.
You may wonder what the yellow hose in this picture is... it's the overflow from our water-butt. It's gravity fed over to this corner to keep it away from the timber of the garage. I've just bent it around and left it some space. To be honest, the water butt doesn't have much in it at the moment, as I've now put most of the water into the pond!
3. Next, put some pot plants around your pond. This not only disguises the black plastic of the pond liner and the mess of the rubble, but it also gives a stepped access for your wildlife to get to the pond.
4. Naturalise a bit. As you can see, we've not only planted up some of those pots with a range of plants and planted some bulbs and seeds, but we've also added some branches from the holly tree I severely pruned last year to create a wildlife ramp and to disguise that black plastic a bit more.
5. Put some wildlife shelter inside the pond. If you want bugs and amphibians to take up residence in your pond, you need to give them some appealing real-estate. They aren't going to be taken with an expanse of shelter-less black plastic. In my pond I installed a terracotta plant pot, a couple of broken pieces of slate, some gravel and some pebbles of various sizes. This gives lots of nooks and crannies to allow the wildlife to get in and out and to provide them with some cosy places to live.
6. I'm pretty pleased with how this is looking. Time to start adding some water. Here's some oxygenating plants to put in too. At some point I'm going to add some more pond plants - I'm looking at flag irises as they are very attractive to things like dragonflies - the adult clings on to the plant as she deposits her eggs in the water, and the larva will later climb up the iris to emerge as an adult.
It's important to use rainwater rather than tap water, as tap water has chemicals added in to make it clean for us to drink, but not so welcoming for the wildlife! I filled several watering cans from my water butt.
And here is the finished pond looking very happy in its corner. With wildflower seeds sown in the planters, and plenty of nooks and crannies for wildlife both in, under and around the pond, I can't wait for the wildlife to move in! I've already seen a blackbird and a pigeon having a good drink (and a Cocker Spaniel, but she doesn't count), and a blackbird helping herself to the wildflower seeds I'd planted.
Please note - this post does contain some affiliate links. That means that if you follow my links to buy the products on Amazon, I get a small commission. It doesn't affect the price you pay at all.
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