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Review of Haynes Chicken Manual
A review of this complete step-by-step guide to keeping chickens
livestock
10:21, 12th Mar 2010
Review of Making the Most of It
A review of the book Making the Most of It by Barrington Markham
books
10:16, 12th Mar 2010
Hunting Rabbit
Find out how to hunt for delicious rabbit
hunting
10:16, 12th Mar 2010
Vintage Cider Apples
Find out more growing your own vintage cider apples
fruits
09:57, 4th Mar 2010
Keeping Chickens
Find out more about the practicalities of keeping chickens
livestock
13:01, 23rd Feb 2009
Smallholding for Rent in Ireland
Rent a smallholding in County Clare, Ireland
smallholding
15:58, 16th Feb 2009
Small Holding For Sale in Slovenia
Buy a small holding in Slovenia and read the story of its current owner
smallholding
13:24, 29th Oct 2008
Why Buy a Polytunnel
Learn about Polytunnels and their benefits
building
17:12, 17th Sep 2008
Building a Pond
Find out how to build a garden pond
Building A Pond
general | grow your own
A pond is a wonderful addition to any garden or allotment. Apart from looking nice, it will attract an enormous amount of wildlife which will help you to grow organically. If you can attract frogs, toads, and newts to your garden pond for example, then fighting slugs and insect pests will be so much easier. In addition many species of small birds will come to drink and bathe in the pond and also eat garden pests.
Building a Pond
Building your own garden pond is surprisingly simple. Dig a shallow hole (approximately 30cm deep) to the dimensions you want for the final pond in a sunny location away from overhanging trees. Dig a deep section in the centre of the pond down to 50-70cm so that the whole pond will not freeze solid in the winter, and to give aquatic wildlife a safe place to hibernate. If you want to put many plants in your pond, then it is helpful to have shelved sections on which pots can sit under the water, and also ensure that all steps have sloping edges so that wildlife can get in out and out of the pond without difficulty.
Remove any stones from hole, and add a thick layer of soft sand . This will protect the pond liner from being damaged.
Pond liners are available in butyl rubber (very flexible but expensive) or polythene. If a fabric underlay is used, the pond liner will last much longer so it is worth the extra investment. The length of liner required is:
2 x max. depth of pond + max. length of pond + 1 metre
The width of liner required is:2 x max. depth of pond + max. width of pond + 1 metre
Do not cut the liner to size immediately or you will have enormous problems. Instead line the pond leaving plenty of liner overhanging the edges of the pond. When you fill the pond, the liner will stretch to cover all the bumps and crevices in the pond. Weigh the excess liner down with heavy smooth stones and leave it for 24 hours to settle.
When trimming the pond liner to size leave 15cm of overhang and peg down the edge.
Attracting Wildlife to a Pond
Attracting wildlife to a pond is very simple. If any of your neighbours have a garden pond, then you will probably find that they will journey over all by themselves , otherwise you'll just have to drop some frog and/or toad spawn into your pond in the spring. Birds, insects, and mammals will find the pond all by themselves.
One thing to remember is that goldfish will eat frog and toad spawn, so if you want to have lots of slug and insect munching frogs and toads in your garden, do not put fish in your pond.
Article Published: 10:20, 18th Jul 2008
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