garden ponds in general

hi we have a raised wooden pond in our back garden as we would like to have all sorts of wildlife in our garden , can you advise what are the pros and cons between a raised pond and a pond one in in the ground , as my wife seems to have changed her mind thanks for any advice

 

We have both Gizmo and enjoy them both Mr. W and I prefer the inground more.
It appears to attract more wildlife and although the birds around will drink from both you can see more of what is going on from afar with the inground one.. The inground pond is quite small guessing 2 metres by 1 and a half metres and we purchased a bargain buy, so the size we excepted. Below shows the rocks we added that were dumped around the garden already.
So to us it's a good place to sit and relax..well that's the idea....I think I have showed you the other one, but post this up anyway...












It needed the raised beds at each side to soften the look.
Decisions...............

 

hi thanks for your reply has your inground pond got a filtration pump etc can you advise what size the pond in depth has to be for fish i am looking round youtube at the moment for some advice on how to dig a pond out with shelves thanks

 

Personally I think an in ground pond is much more natural looking and easier for wildlife.

 

My vote goes to have both

A ground level pond with sloping sides will offer and entrance to creatures that wade or crawl. A raised pond offers the opportunity to enjoy it near eye level just where you sit. Both will attract wildlife and are a haven for it especially in an urban setting.

I have a "natural" pond left to its own devices, it has all sort of creepy crawlies and birds love to bathe in it. I also have a "water feature" , in essence a large pot with rocks and a solar powered fountain. Young sparrow chicks find it very amusing and play in the unpredictable sprays of water, and bees come to drink on the wet rocks. Fascinating to look at on the patio.

@Gizmo , your raised pond looks fantastic , likewise @DianneW . Truly lovely pics.

 

Hi @Gizmo !

Like @DianneW, we have both in our garden. We have an “in-ground” pond, with platforms around the edge on the two ends to hold baskets, giving shallow water for bathing and drinking. We also have an escape ramp with a gentle gradient for animals to crawl out on. I kept the image of a struggling adult hedgehog in mind when shaping that area, to get an appropriate gradient and width. At its deepest the pond is just under 1 metre deep. It’s 2x3 metres, so along the length there are a couple of ledges, around 20 and 30 cm, then an area about 1 m cubed, then a set of three ledges, all slightly sloping, leading the the escape area/designated bathing area. There is no filtration or pump in place. We have about 20 small goldfish in there, which survive fine, despite the best efforts of the local herons. We also have different varieties of newts, toads and frogs, plus boatmen, skaters and numerous damsel-and dragon-flies. The pond has been in for less than 3 years. (You can see the development in “siting a pond in a sloping garden”)

We also have a raised water feature, aka a half-hogshead wooden barrel, about 80-90 cm high, and similar diameter. This has a simple electric pump running a bubble-fountain, with the pump housing sitting in a plastic foam cube, the idea being to prevent the filter clogging too often. The water Iris had different ideas, and has rooted itself into the cube! This feature has 5-6 small goldfish in it, also surviving well. I have some plastic fencing in the barrel just below the surface. Long story, but my dog was fascinated with fish, and I would often find her standing in the barrel, so the mesh was to protect the plants and fish... The birds love the mesh, and will perch on it to bathe. We have damsel- and dragon-flies in this pond too.

I like having both. The barrel gives moving water next to the patio, and the small birds love bathing in it. The in-ground pond is loved by the blackbirds for bathing, as well as the wood pigeons and rooks. That said, we have rooks bathing in the barrel-pond, and tits and finches using the in-ground pond....

 

That was very interesting Sian, thanks for such a good description of all,,,, and I hope your ok.
How about you put a couple of Photos on here as well?..I could see how you progressed to a lovely pond....

 

Above was A Water Feature come very small Pond for Wild Life we built from a moulded pond at Bexhill on Sea the Property was called Pebbles and we soon found out the connection...

We dug out this Pond and talking here solid clay...took along time and had no way of using a digger here either. Lined with the very strongest material guaranteed for 10/15 years and it split after 4 years so purchased the glue you use under water...it worked fine..The pond had to have this cover on for the the Ducks.(peskies for short)The Photo is of a duck pond with Fluffles in residence.

 

wow many thanks for your advice photos would be great to see , i have decide to have a inground pond hopefully i can sort it out with everything else going on in the world hope you are all staying safe and well thanks again

 

hi do you think a moulded pond would work just as well as a pond that is dug out ?
thanks for your advice

 

Here’s the link for the in-ground pond
Siting a pond on a sloping garden
Lots of photos, from positioning, digging out, shaping shelves and ramp, etc

...and here’s the barrel

 

You still have to dig out but we have had occasion to have several over the years and never had a crack or any damage to them and two were used in our duck pen...one in this photo but then when they had ducklings, we managed to purchase a 2nd hand one for a fiver...

I do believe they come in many shapes and sizes.

 

many thanks for your replys my wife would like to dispose of the pond we have in place and have a rockery type fish pond size hopefull of size of 5 foot x 7 foot 2 to 3 foot deep but i was thinking of what type of filtration would be need for a low maintenance pond and would it have to be connected to electric main or mains water supplys thanks for your advice

 

Both ours have water flowing into the ponds so that needs a pump each.
We have Pontec the brand the Wooden Made Pond has Multi Clear Set 5000 which has filters in that you wash out when needed. The Sunken one has a Pondomax Eco cannot recall the model but it goes from 1500-17000 Can't even find it and it's buried under the waterfall therefore it's never been cleaned out...says in the brochure twice a year clean...
We have a strange rule here over swimming pools..above ground pools are not charged with a property Tax but in the ground Pools are...so people have a swimming pool quite often just a few cms above the ground, to get past that ruling...They tax for tax sake it seems. Any in the ground swimming pool also it is law to have it fenced off or covered securely for the safety of children, so it's a good law. The fine is horrendous yet I have seen many pools unguarded even Gites...Sometimes the French people I know have stated, we know the rules, but often we ignore them..

 

many thanks for your reply after the new pond is dug out etc and we begin to put plants in do we leave them in their containers on top of shelf plastic baskets etc or do we plant them in the soil as i am in the process of emptying old pond and there is alot of dirty water as plants where in the bottom of the pond and soil etc