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Plums and Damsons
Find out more about plums and damsons
fruits
09:58, 17th Aug 2010
Review of The Treehouse Diaries
A review of the book The TreeHouse Diaries by Nick Weston
books
11:17, 26th Jul 2010
Storing Herbs by Freezing
Find out how to freeze herbs to retain their flavour for months
preserving
16:10, 4th Jun 2010
Make Your Own Leafmould
Find out how to make your own leafmould to improve your soil
grow your own
15:28, 4th Jun 2010
Greenhouse Thermometer
Use a suitable max min thermometer to track temperatures in a greenhouse
greenhouse
11:22, 3rd Jun 2010
Greenhouse from Plastic Bottles
Build a greenhouse from old plastic bottles
greenhouse
10:19, 3rd Jun 2010
Make Tomato Passata
Preserve tomatoes by making delicious tomato passata
preserving
12:00, 25th May 2010
Growing Outdoor Tomato Varieties
Tomato plants which will survive outdoors in the UK
fruits
11:56, 25th May 2010
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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Drying Herbs
Find out how to dry your own herbs
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The Good Life
Find out about the ever popular TV series The Good Life
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Nettles
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