New pond - lining with upside down turf

[plesurf]

Hi,
I have just recently finished a wildlife pond that is about 3m x 3m and I covered the bottom with upside down turf. I read this on a few online guides to building a wildlife pond. Water has been in the pond for about 10 days now, and I have noticed a bit of a smell and also a kind if film on the water surface.

I would be grateful if anyone can advise if this is normal and will settle down once plants are added or when the grass on the underside of the turf has died.

Or, did I do the wrong thing as would I have been better off just adding soil?
The turf does look good and covers all exposed liner too which I thought was another good reason.

Any advise greatly appreciated!

[galanthus]

Umm shouldn't the upside turf be inbetween the ground and the pond liner ? Or edging the pond? Normal soil and ponds don't normally give good results, most plants go in with specially prepared aquatic soil which has less nutrients. Tho I could be wrong. Better though I think with normal liner bottom and popping your plants in aquatic pots, the escaped soil and odd bit of gravel give bottom dwelling creatures some terratory. I did mine like this and it's thriving. Good luck.

[borderglider]

I hate to give you the bad news but you will have to take all that turf out of your pond - otherwise it will rot and produce a eutrophic condition in which you will have fantastic algal blooms and no oxygen. Sorry to have to tell you this - sounds like a disaster.

When making ponds the general advice is to do everything possible to keep them 'nutrient poor' - for example you never put topsoil or rich soil of any kind into the water. If you put topsoil into a pond you are in effect making 'soup'. When they make large ponds they always use SUBSOIL for any soil input - since this is largely mineral with no organic remains or nutrients in it. On my early attempts to make ponds - 20 years ago - before I knew about this , I just used topsoil and created huge bowls of green algal soup with no life in them - apart from algae.

Your best option is to remove the turf and start again - awful though that is to hear. Your local wildlife trust will have good practical advice on pond construction and there are numerous books to consult. Good luck.

[plesurf]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice, I kind of thought this would be the case.
I guess draining the pond is necessary? Not just taking out the turf?

The liner I bought is described as 'constructed of tri-laminate LDPE, UV stabilised with 35 year guarantee'. Would I need to cover all exposed liner? This is dififcult as here is a drop of some 10 inches on some parts.

Thanks.

[galanthus]

I still have exposed liner, I'll post a pic for you tomoz. You can always try creeping plants, ivy dropping over it etc. Don't be disheartened it will be so worth it when it's finished. I had my first eva froglet on a lilypad today Will post a pic of that tomoz too. Bottle of red wine calling me lol

[thunder]

Plesurf, I'm not sure you need to cover all the liner, particularly since it's described as UV stabilised.

henrya

[plesurf]

Thanks for all the info.
Today I drained the pond, got rid of the turf (which was not nice at all!) and cleaned out the sediment.
I now have a freshly filled pond!
I guess I will pot up the plants with aquatic compost and maybe add some gravel on the bottom.

Any other tips for a newly filled wildlife pond greatly accepted!

[borderglider]

Well done - you bit the bullet and did the right thing. Gravel and stones are fine - if you put pots of plants in the margins I think you're supposed to cover the compost surface with a good depth of gravel - to minimise leaching of nutrients.

Good luck - apparently a new pond will be colonised by at least one flying beetle within 24 hours - or so I heard on radio 4 the other day.

[Wu]

I put plants from other ponds in mine, and now it's full of life (snails, beetles, dragonfly nymphs, all sorts).

I also had the problem of the edge being higher in some places than in others. I covered the exposed liner by draping strips of turf down it. Now they're established they give it a really nice natural look

[kaitkaitkait]

Plesurf, it sounds as if you have the same kind of liner I have. Mine's edged with turf on two "sides" (it's oval so it doesnt' really have any sides) and has one deep edge with a logpile, and one shallow beach of gravel. It's exposed in places but not excessively. I think yours will be fine as long as you allow the grassy edge to trail down.

Plants that love the pond edge include brooklime (veronica beccabunga) and water dell/creeping jenny, and, as someone above posted, ivy makes a lovely trailing "fringe".

Good luck with your pond!

[Adam Cheeseman]

- apparently a new pond will be colonised by at least one flying beetle within 24 hours - or so I heard on radio 4 the other day.[/quote]

We had a Greater Water Boatman (a bug, I know) land on the liner as we were laying it at Mayford Pond. How's that for fast colonization!

Cheers,

Adam

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

We had a Greater Water Boatman (a bug, I know) land on the liner as we were laying it at Mayford Pond. How's that for fast colonization!

Cheers,

Adam

My gf had one trying to colonise her car bonnet!

[pieman]

I am creating a pond too, but I need help in figuring out how to tap into a spring that is 10 m away from the site for the pond. I can't build the pond where the marshy area is as its too close to the boundry line. Help please!