New Garden and Pond Finishing Touches Help

Last post 02-08-2009 8:28 PM by geoff51. 8 replies.

• 02/08/2009 12:28 AM

  Bharat avatar Location: Bath Joined on: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 4

  Reply | Contact  Fellow Gardeners I am new to forums, so please bear with me, I am reposting the message below and this time hopefully the pictures will also be attached, I want my Garden project to be a shared one with you all and thus I am seeking your suggestions and views on how best to make changes andshare the developments with you. The bottom line is that I am not keen on sharp lines and pristine borders, wild flowers and many different habitats for wild life is important to me. The pond is the latest change to the garden and I would appreciate your advice on how best to finish the project.  The pond is "large" about 5 meters long by 4 meters wide and in places it is 1.25 meters deep, the pond has two to three shelves, the first shelf being just 20 cm deep, the second 40cm deep and the third 60 cm deep. The pond is for wild life only, no fish.  We live in Bath, south side, garden is south facing.   As a priority I have to child proof this pond, any suggestions?   From the apex of the pond to the first meter of the pond is a shallow area and it is about 8cm above the main pond, I wanted to create a little water fall with a beach, perhaps some cobble stones over which the water can flow down to the pond, any suggestions on what to do please? Any other suggestions for planting within the pond and around it ( at the bottom end of the pond I was considering making a marshy area) will be much appreciated. Any suggestions on the use of a UV filter, pump, pump size (especially if I want to create a small waterfall, running water over a beach type effect. Any other advice. Thanking you all in anticipation. Bharat Avatar Bharat

• 02/08/2009 10:44 AM

  In reply to

  sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 9,468

  Reply | Contact  To make our pond childproof and dog proof (my son was only 3 when we built the pond and our dog at the time liked to take a dip) we built a wall around the outside about two foot high using breeze blocks which were then painted with masonry paint and coping stones were laid on top.  Of course with any children, we still had to keep an eye on any that came into the garden and made it clear they were not to to over the wall under any circumstance. sue1002

• 02/08/2009 11:16 AM	In reply to
  BB Location: Hereford Joined on: 12 May 2009 Posts: 729	Reply | Contact I do not have a pond but I have a friend with young children who have a pond and they have a metal work(steel I think) grid completely across the pool submerged a couple of inches below the water level. That way if there were any unfortunate accidents they would hardly get their feet wet. BB

• 02/08/2009 01:19 PM

  In reply to

  richardpeeej Location: Leicestershire Joined on: 22 May 2009 Posts: 3,498

  Reply | Contact I only have a very small pond -made from an old washing up bowl sunk into the ground with a largish stone near the edge for the frogs to get in and out -you wan't have that problem with your beach. Just an idea-Could you make a little fence around it with a  gate that you can lock when the children are playing out there. Out of interest-I know of someone who filled up their pond with sand when their children were small and waited until they were 'old enough' before they put water in it. Perhaps you could just fill up the shallow part with water, put a load of stones in the   deepest part and gradually take them out as your children get taller! -Richard

• 02/08/2009 02:00 PM	In reply to
  Bharat avatar Location: Bath Joined on: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 4	Reply | Contact  Photos can be seen at:  http://www.fotothing.com/bharatavatar/ Bharat

• 02/08/2009 07:17 PM	In reply to
  sue1002 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk Joined on: 06 Sep 2005 Posts: 9,468	Reply | Contact That's a lovely looking pond Bharat.  As I can now see that you've already built the pond up, I would go with BB's suggestion of a strong wire grid over the top to stop little ones falling in as my original idea of a wall around it would look silly. sue1002

• 02/08/2009 08:09 PM	In reply to
  Bharat avatar Location: Bath Joined on: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 4	Reply | Contact  Thank you, I will get a wire mesh cut to size and may be make it in 4 sections so that I can lift each section for pond maintenence. Any suggestions on what I can do at the Apex of the pond, in this area I visualised water running over pebbles and flowing into the bigger expanse, but it is better to take ideas from fellow gardeners. Best wishes. Bharat Bharat

• 02/08/2009 08:21 PM

  In reply to

  Bharat avatar Location: Bath Joined on: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 4

  Reply | Contact  Thank you Richard, At the bottom end the pond is 1.25 meters deep and so the filling it with stones idea would take seveal tonnes of stones, and I am in a bit of a hurry, meaning, by the time my children are old or tall enough, I will be an old man too!  In our old home we had a little pond and my first child had such good fun looking at the Newts and Frogs and watching Dragon Flies hatch out of the pond, I just had to have a pond in the new home for the two children to enjoy.  At present a strong wire mesh appears to be a winning suggestion. Best wishes. Bharat Bharat

• 02/08/2009 08:28 PM

  In reply to

  geoff51 Location: Totton, Hampshire Joined on: 13 Feb 2009 Posts: 187

  Reply | Contact Hi, The most important thing you MUST do is to make your pond childproof unfortunately if you use the metal frame suggested in previous post you will stop any wild life from colonising the pond so you have 2 real options. Option`1 Fence area off from the rest of the garden completely to keep any children away. Option 2 Use the frame and change the pond style to a more formal Fish pond. The decision is up to you but remember you can change the style of your pond as your children grow up but you can never replace your children. Now we have got that over My suggestion to you is firstly work out the volume of your pond as all equipment you will need is based on this and then either visit a specialist Aquatic garden centre in person or online ans see what equipment is available to suit your needs and where the best prices are available I have a great deal of success with native water plants but can never get lilies to flower, native plants such as Iris pseudacorus, water soldiers, cotton grass, king cup etc can give a superb display throughout the year. If you are going to the wild life route you do not always need a UV as the plants once established should keep the pond clear What I suggest is decided which rout you wish to travel and post your decision on this site or contact me by Private message and we can be more specific as to your needs Geoff51 Pond life!?!