• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

New house, new pond...

Jack B

Jack B

Member
Joined
3 Jan 2020
Messages
180
Location
London
I've moved from a flat in East London to a house in Salisbury - which comes with a pond... About 1.6m x 60cm, so nothing too glam, but I'd like to run it as best I can, with wildlife as the focus.

  • Lots of sludge in the bottom
  • Has filled up with water quite a bit in the last two days' of rain, so the liner seems alright
  • Plants in, and around, and above... I'm no expert, so plenty I don't recognise
  • Have a good source of collected rainwater in the vicinity: two waterbutts, about 1.5m below the level of the pond. Would be fun to set up an autofill system
  • An electric cable exiting the garage and heading underground towards the pond...maybe for a long-forgotten water feature? I'll have a dig around
  • 15month old daughter giddy with excitement at exploring the garden, but no swimming badges

I'll get a metal grill over it for safety's sake, but then...?

I'd be grateful for any tips / thoughts from more experienced pond keepers - this is my first 🙂 Quite excited!
 

Attachments

  • 20240823_154237.jpg
    20240823_154237.jpg
    4.6 MB · Views: 81
  • 20240823_154233.jpg
    20240823_154233.jpg
    5.5 MB · Views: 84
  • 20240823_153944.jpg
    20240823_153944.jpg
    3.4 MB · Views: 70
  • 20240823_153923.jpg
    20240823_153923.jpg
    3.8 MB · Views: 64
  • 20240823_153913.jpg
    20240823_153913.jpg
    4.8 MB · Views: 77
The tall plant in the corner is rosebay willowherb or similar, and that is a waterlily in the bottom. The willowherb likes moist areas but is not a true aquatic. I don't see any other marginal or aquatic plants.

If the water is going that low it is likely there are some small punctures in the liner, but you won't know for sure unless you fill it right up and see how long it takes to go down again. For example it might quickly go down to say 25cm below the top and then stabilise, only slowly going down any further. This would tell you that any leaks are located at the 25cm mark and above. Finding the leaks would be a PITA, and if it was a cheap liner in the first place it would be further damaged by exposure to UV from not being underwater, so likely not worth repairing and salvaging if leaks are confirmed. It looks like the very bottom of the liner is sound, as it has remained moist enough down there to keep the waterlily alive during the recent dry weather and presumably holds enough water in winter to keep the crown of the waterlily below the ice level.

If it is a good quality liner (Butyl rubber or similar) it would be worth repairing if leaks are confirmed but, again, they will be very hard to locate and if there are multiple leaks you might find it a very frustrating experience.

If it does prove to be leaky one option that people do with old leaky ponds is to fill them with soil and make a bog garden for moisture loving but not true aquatic plants. You could rescue the waterlily and grow it in a tub or barrel which would be much easier to make child proof than a pond. (Edit: and then build a bigger pond in a few years when your daughter can swim!)
 
martin-green said:
A metal grill will become a pain as the plants grow, your daughter is more important, I don't like saying this, but fill the pond in until she is older.
Click to expand...
A valid point! I'll take the hit on metal grill hassles though - will just be nice to know it's there, and wet 😅
 
Jack B said:
A valid point! I'll take the hit on metal grill hassles though - will just be nice to know it's there, and wet 😅
Click to expand...
How about a small fence around your pond? Here’s a few photos of mine. My son is about the same age as your daughter. He can still get to the water if he was determined - the fence just serves as a reminder that there’s water there. He’s having swimming lessons and he understands water so he’s aware of what the pond is. We do let him “play” with the pond. He has a little net and bucket but he’s always supervised. You know your daughter best but I think a pond is a lovely thing for kids to have to learn from.

IMG_8928.jpeg
IMG_8927.jpeg
IMG_8925.jpeg
 
As I understand it, swimmer or non swimmer, doesn't make any difference, the child trips, falls face down, and ............
Also most that do die, do so in other peoples ponds. I have friends with small children, I refuse to let them in the garden, call me mean stingy what ever, they always leave alive.
It's not many over the course of a year, but then One, is One too many.
 
martin-green said:
As I understand it, swimmer or non swimmer, doesn't make any difference, the child trips, falls face down, and ............
Also most that do die, do so in other peoples ponds. I have friends with small children, I refuse to let them in the garden, call me mean stingy what ever, they always leave alive.
It's not many over the course of a year, but then One, is One too many.
Click to expand...
Well that’s a bleak post but fair enough.
 
Last edited:
PARAGUAY said:
My cousin had the dilemma when his kids were little, he filled his pond in turned into a bog garden ,with a view to redoing when the kids were older
Click to expand...
That’s a good idea. Our pond is partly a bog garden. There’s a shallow area right up to the log that crosses the pond. After the log (which is a natural barrier) it starts to get deeper again. It is deep-ish (650mm) in the middle so that fish have somewhere to overwinter but it gets there gradually.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top