Lockdown project - raised pond

[Khonda]

Evening all

I have heavily used diynot when planning diy projects, redoing my kitchen and bathroom, replacing laminate and carpets, replacing radiators etc.. never posting anything but reading through countless posts during the planning stage. It is always sooo helpful so thankyou!

Anyway, I have always wanted a pond however my smallish garden is almost entirely given over to my two small children. There was a gravel portion at the end which would have been perfect however that is now a play area!

So over lockdown I decided that I would finally add a pond as there was a small unused space under our bay window. I came straight on here to see what could be made but to my surprise I couldn’t find anything! Hence why I am posting this, hopefully it inspires someone else and is of some use.

first I created a wooden frame:

As you can see the space is curved so it made things a bit difficult but the frame was really solid so I was happy. The bit at the far right is the filter housing.

next I lined it with plywood and clad the outside with decking:

The two slopes are waterfalls, the one on the right had to be redone as it was way below to the level of the water so wouldn’t have worked unless the pond was only half full!

Then I lined it with laminate flooring underlay as this was the cheapest suitable material I could find:

Then I put the liner in with water to hold it in place:

It took my 2 year old about 40 minutes to fill up!

After this I trimmed the liner, added some trim round the sides, and installed the pump. Here is it finished with rocks and plants:

The plants have already grown lots since this was taken so I am hoping for lots of wildlife next summer.

thanks for reading.

 

[bernardgreen]

Impressive creation, well done

 

[Munroast]

can wildlife get out if it gets in ?

We have a garden pond and it is a magnet for wildlife, year round fascination with whats happening. This last week has been dragon flies possibly laying eggs.

 

[Khonda]

Thankyou Bernard, much appreciated!

that’s a good question munroist, although dragonflies will probably be OK! (there are a few dragonfly/damselfly nymphs scuttling round the edges, have a look in yours, they’re really easy to spot) The waterfall on the right was originally a ramp for frogs to get out, the idea then evolved. I was going to make pile of stones on the outside for access but I don’t think there is space. Will they get in the first place in it’s current form?

I do still need to add a covering to make it child safe, there is no rush though as the kids are too little to be in the garden unsupervised at the moment. I bought a trellis board which I will create something out of.