Making a pond in your garden

Decide on the Position
Firstly, you need to think carefully about where you will place the pond. If it has trees overhanging, then you will be driven mad by leaves falling in. If it is too shady, your plants won't appreciate it (water lilies and other water plants generally like plenty of sunshine). Above all of course, however, do pick a place where you can see it and appreciate it.Incidentally, this is the point where you really want to sit back and be sure that this is what you want.  Before long, you will be spending money and digging a hole that takes just as much work to fill up again if you change your mind.  Make sure that what you are planning is going to add to the value of your home and garden, and not be out of place.

Decide on the Size
Now decide on the size. The best way to visualise it is to lay a hose pipe on the ground to define the edge of the pond. Then look at it from different viewpoints to make sure that it fits well into the view of the garden.  Even go into the house, and consider whether it looks right from the window.  In bad weather, when you are indoors, the pond can still be an attractive addition to your view of the garden if you choose the position well.

Now Start Digging!
Digging is hard work, and you will learn just how unpleasant your subsoil is! Your first step is to remove the turf and any good topsoil and put these aside - you may want to use some of this later when tidying up the edge of the pond.  You will need to hire a skip to get rid of most of what you dig out, unless you are going to use it to build up height elsewhere in the garden.  (Yellow pages for Skip Hire).If you buy a pre-formed pond, then of course you dig a hole to fit it, but we will assume in these notes that you intend to dig a hole the shape you want, and then use a plastic liner. You will need to dig much of it out to at least 30 cms deep, as even if you want 'marginal' plants growing near the edge, it is easier to grow them in special plastic baskets sitting on a shelf this deep.  Away from the sides, beyond your 'marginal shelf', you can dig down as deep as you like, but keep the walls sloping to stop the earth falling down, and to make it easier to fit the liner later.Right at the edge of the pond, you might want to think about how you are going to finish it off.  Usually, you drape the liner onto the bank, and cover with stones or paving, but a nice idea for part of it is to have a gentle slope into the water, which can be a pebble beach.  Another idea is to cut away a strip of soil about 8 cms deep, and 20 cms wide, so that you can hold the edge down with partially submerged stones - this neatly conceals the liner at the waters edge, but do allow for the extra liner width.Finally, make sure the edge of the pond is perfectly level, as once the liner is in and full of water, it is too late to fix (water lapping over the edge at one end, and a cliff-face of exposed liner at the other end!!).

Buy your Liner and Pump
Buy your liner and pump by mail order (saving about 20%), but first do have a look at these items in the garden centres, to make sure you understand how the pipes fit on, and what sort of fountain attachments there are.You also need an underlay to put under it unless you are going to use sand or a DIY job with old carpets.  This is to protect the liner from sharp stones and roots.  In addition to the pump (check the catalogues for the size you need), you need some piping and connectors if you are going to send water to feed a waterfall.  You may get away with this lot initially, but be warned that you may need to buy a filter later on especially if you have fish, and want to see them (ie. to keep the water clear).

Lay the Liner and Fill the Pond
Laying the liner has to be done carefully, but in fact it is the fun part! It also signals the end of all that digging, so is really something of a milestone event.  Our first tip on this is to make sure you have some drinks ready for the minor celebration on seeing water in the hole!!You start the process by draping the liner over the pond, and then making sure it is roughly fitted to the shape, by folding it in the right places.  Place a few (smooth) stones on the liner around the edge to stop the wind catching it , and to hold it in place.  You will need to walk over the liner inside the hole, so you are best to be in bare feet to avoid damaging it.  Then start filling with water.  (Incidentally another wotnext tip is not to switch over to a water meter just before doing all this!).As it fills the bottom of the pond, walk around, and smooth out any wrinkles, and adjust the folds as needed, so that the liner stays firmly against the sides.  And continue like this until the pond is full.  You may have to adjust the stones around the edge as the liner shifts into place.You might now want to trim off any surplus liner (leave at least 30cm overlap beyond the pool edge), and then that is it for a while, giving you a chance to relax and admire your handiwork, and giving the pond a chance to settle down over the next few days.
Finish things off
You now need to finish the edges, as we mentioned earlier, with rocks, or paving, or with pebbles and cobbles for a beach.  If you just want to buy a few large rocks as part of this, you can get them at B&Q for about half the price of a garden centre.  If you want a large quantity, then it is cheaper to order from a building stone supplier (in the yellow pages); rockery stone is sold by the ton (about 40 large rocks), and the more regular building stone is sold by the size of wall you can build with it, ie. by the square metre.Installing the pump is straightforward, the main issue being to conceal the mains cable and the piping.  You will probably find that you need to tie a few stones or half-bricks to the pump and piping in the water, to stop it all drifting to the surface!

Put in the Wildlife
Finally, you need to put in the wildlife that you want.  Everyone (well nearly everyone at least wants some plantlife, and you can put water lilies in the deep water, irises and other plants in the 'margins', and floating plants like water soldiers anywhere you want.  At this point, you start to discover how water garden centres make their money - while many marginal plants are only about £3 each, the water lilies will set you back about £15 each.  If you are going to have fish too, then get the credit card ready!!Interestingly, as soon as the water has settled, from somewhere or other, wildlife will gravitate to your pond.  You will soon find mysterious bugs and things in the water, and before long birds will start to visit, especially if they can easily walk down to the water's edge.  All very nice.Finally, you will probably want to plant some flowers around the pond, to serve as a pleasant backdrop. You can buy a good selection at low cost though mail order, using crocus.co.uk. It's a nice web site with lots of interesting gardening hints and tips.