Re: Tiny City Pond Help

I have buit a few ponds over the years and have had the same problem with damage to the liner.  My solution has been to double line the pond. I use a liner then a thick layer of sand and then a second liner.  This means that even if the top layer is punctured the pond remains waterproof.  You can buy repair adhesive which even sets under water or when damp and I have found a very useful double sided adhesive tape that cane used to repair small tears.

The photograph shows the pond just after it was completed about three years ago. It consists of three interlocking pools connected by flowing water. The third large pool is about 5ft deep and contains a collection of fish.  The depth means that they are safe from our predetory herons.  The middle and third pools are now full of wild plants including bullrushes, reeds and water lily as well as water mint etc.  We have newts, toads and many insects including several species of dragonflies.  The birds love to use the two top pools for bathing and drinking and we have families of wrens who lve to use the pond edges and plants for feeding.

I couldn't live without a wildlife pond and it wa sone of the first things we installed at the house when we moved to the isle of Wight in July 2005.

the most importent thing is sun light not enough and the pond just doesnt grow right

newts like deeper water but frogs will brreed in vewry shallow pond providing there s sun the frog spawn is always laid in the shallow sunnyest position

fish and newts dont mixe the fish eat the newt tadpoles and frogs tadpoles

fish also eat water snail eges an small snails

had fish  for years now know what its like without them and for wild life pond dont have them

you can bury the liner at the edges and cover with stones to stop the earth washing into the pond after a while plants will hold it all together

when buying water plants check the size of these plants when fully grown some grow up to 6ft tall

Hi Lorraine
Your pond looks really lovely and so well established. It is a shame the liner has been damaged. AJD Hoggies has pointed out you should be able to get a repair kit. I just put 'pond liner repair' into Google and there's loads of sites came up.

This hopefully will avoid the need for too much major disturbance. Its getting near that time of year when its safest to work on ponds, either thinning vegetation - never more than a third in any one year, or for carrying out repairs. Anything you disturb will have the chance to find refuge elsewhere in the pond or somewhere nearby, before the weather gets too cold.

Red Robin makes a good point about using larger stones as a retainer. Once the vegetation has established it should help hold the soil together. Consider using larger gravel or cobblestones - no less perhaps than 35 - 40mm. There's little chance this will be washed or scraped away. 

As Red Robin suggests, anyone considering a wildlife pond should avoid introducing fish, as they do tend to eat any amphibians and invertebrates. If, like AJD Hoggies, you have the room you could have a multi-functional water feature with fish in one area and wildlife in another and get the best of both worlds.

We can all learn from each other’s experiences here. It would be nice to know how much disturbance was necessary in the end, whether you were able to use a repair kit and any pitfalls for others in a similar situation to be aware of.  

Good luck and please keep us all posted.

In the meantime I am going to post a request into the 'Cheapies corner' thread to see if anyone in the 'Greenfingers Forum' has any ideas about a cheap and cost effective method of pond repair.

John

Would love to see an update on how everyone's ponds are doing. I'm nosy like that!!

That pond looks really lovely Lorraine, really natural looking.

Mine is doing okay, still no pond skaters though... :O( but the birds, wasps and flies love it.

However the plants all seem to have rooted okay and some of them really seem to be establishing themselves nicely, its already starting to look overgrown and we love sitting by it.

I'll try and take some more pictures of it for you paula. Unfortunately as I mention in another thread I managed to break my back whilst I was on holiday, so gardening is out of the question for me at the moment and any further improvements are now on hold for a while (thankfully I will make a full recovery and should be back to normal in a few months).

Oh No, how awful. You must be in so much pain. It was bad enough breaking my foot earlier in the summer. As you're already aware I'm really nosy...so how did you manage to break your back? I wish you a speedy recovery. Please take care.

Well happily I am not really in much pain anymore and aside from an anti-inflamatory pill at night I am now not taking any painkillers at all. I had an operation to put pins and plates in on 24th August and I'm already walking around and am back to dressing myself and such again, its a pretty surprisingly speedy recovery really. I won't be doing any gymnastics or yoga for a while, but I should be back to normal within a few months, I'm just a bit stiff and slow for now.

Foolishly I did it skydiving, but I have learnt my lesson and my days of dangerous sports are over. Nothing like the fear of paralysis to give you a reality check. The thought of never being able to go hiking and just enjoy the wild places and animals I love was quite enough to put the need for high adrenalin in its place.

Here's our mini pond about 8 weeks after it was built, I love it, it already looks sort of  wild and ''natural' and like my back I'm amazed at how quick it has reached this state.

Firstly, your pond is looking fantasic. You must be so pleased with it.

You broke your back Skydiving? Ouch. I'm glad you're on the mend and have come to your senses!  Take care

Hi Thomas... your pond looks wonderful. As you say, it's amazing how quickly it has developed but what a reward for you to see it flourishing so quickly. It is really good to read that you are slowly getting better now - it must have been absolutely terrifying for you.

Squirrel

Yes the skydiving was not one of my greatest ideas I've persisted with... It was something I did many years ago and always promised myself to get back to it and train for a full skydiving licence. As the years passed I found I was less keen, but thought that was just age-related nerves, in hindsight it was sensible foresight. :O) This year the money came up, so off me and my brother went.

I don't know that I had time to be terrified during the accident, but of course the pain once I hit the ground was immense and knowing that I had damaged my back but not knowing how serious was not nice at all. The worst moment was after the X-rays when the hospital staff gathered round to tell me my back was indeed broken, quite possibly that was the most unpleasant moment of my life ever. I then had to wait flat on my back for 4 days for all the swelling to go down before they could operate and that gave me plenty of time to worry about the possibilities of what may come.

Fortunately, my family were all there with me, they worked a 24 hour rota so someone was by my side at all times. The hospital and staff were marvelous and the surgeon came and chatted to me everyday, I was in Figueras hospital in Catalunya, Spain and I have nothing but praise for that little hospital and its staff, even the cleaners were so friendly and worked really hard, good food too. :O)

OMG how awful. I was scared to ask you what happened as I suppose I really didn't want to think about it. You were so so lucky but you know that. It doesn't bear thinking about...

Just keep those feet firmly on the ground now.

Hi Thomas,

Sorry to hear about your accident and glad to hear you are on the mend. Your pond is looking good and will get even better with time and the plants start to develop. I hope that it gives you a lot of pleasure as you watch it progress, I have one myself and it is very satisfying to sit and watch the wildlife that comes to it.

Graham

The birds love the pond so much I'm not sure they use our dedicated bird bath anymore. Yesterday there was a flock of 10-ish sparrows all busy cleaning themselves in and around it alongside a great tit, the blackbirds and a goldfinch or 2. Lots of fun to watch, but they left a lot of floating liquid poo over the surface. :O)

Ahhhhhh! With every benefit there comes a drawback...! ☺ However, it's good to hear they approve of all your efforts.

Hi Thomas
Glad to hear you are making good progress with your recovery after that awefull accident.

Sorry I've not been able to keep up with this forum until now. Needless to say it was nice to pick it up again and read how you've all be doing.

The pond is really taking shape and looks great. You must be really be pleased with yourself. While I lost my pond skater bet, at least having birds coming to bathe in itself makes the effort all the worth while. Did you have any common darters come at all? They are still on the wing in places, so its not completely too late for them to find the pond and lay eggs.