A preformed fibreglass pond: how can you make a decent wildlife pond from this?
Here’s a classic pre-formed pond liner.
It’s designed for fish-keeping, and for standing plants in pots on the shelves. It’s not the ideal shape for wildlife.
So how can we make a good wildlife pond out of this?
Simple: do the most important thing you can for any pond – fill it with clean water.
Be obsessive about clean water: it’s very easy to get polllutants into water and very much harder (or impossible) to get them out again.
So no soil, no tapwater, no fertilisers, no compost, no plant food, no fish food, no turves. Clean, washed, childrens sandpit sand should be OK, but absolutely nothing that will add unnaturally high concentrations of nutrients.
Leaves are fine – let them fall in.
June 2, 2010 at 9:29 pm |
If you think the one in the picture looks bad….
Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers, and I did get 2 identical pre-formed ponds for free from different sources.
After eventually getting round to digging the equivalent of 2 graves, I’ve finally sunk them.
I’n a latecomer to the blog, and it looks like I’ve done everything wrong so far…
…….but I’m still optimistic and I do have some genuine wildlife. I have a few ideas now to try & improve the situation. I’ll try to get back & let you know !
June 2, 2010 at 11:03 pm |
Dear Tony
oh – I do feel a bit of a kill joy.
But don’t worry about the shape too much. The really important thing is to really go for the clean water because, to be honest, any shape or size or depth of hole in the ground will be good for wildlife of you’ve got unpolluted water.
Do get in touch if you need any more advice (yes there is more where this depressing gloom-mongering comes from!
Best wishes
Jeremy
December 30, 2010 at 5:56 am |
How big is this pond?
December 30, 2010 at 9:52 am |
Quite large: around 3 m x 2 m.
April 8, 2011 at 4:59 pm |
I want to install / build a garden pond using a pre-formed pond liner. Question: Do I add pebbles / rocks to the pond bottoms? The sides of the liner is pretty steep, so no natural material can be used to cover up the black plastic. Is exposed (under water) black plastic an eyesore?
April 9, 2011 at 6:00 am |
H Bob
Whether it’s an eyesore is a matter of taste really. Black pond backgrounds under water don’t usually show up all that much. If you can cover the part above the water (with plants growing down form the side or up from the water) it probably won’t look too bad.
You don’t absolutely have to add rocks / pebbles to the bottom: but they’ll give a place for creatures to live. But give them a good wash first to make sure they don’t add pollutants.
Jeremy