Building pond at work, ideas please

[APC]

Yo,
I built a pond at work, about 7-8m x 3-4m. It's terraced nicely and fed by water diverted from the roof of a nearby building (although initially we cheated and used water diverted from a water trough so make the liner harder to steal). After digging it out and berming the downhill side, I removed as many stones as I could, then put down a layer of soft sand approx 3-4cm deep. Then I put down some terram. Then I put down another layer of sand and lined with butyl. The edges of the butyl were dug in with some coarse coconut husk netting (coyo or something, can't remember it's name). This was hung from ground level into the pond for a metre. This was to give a surface to get colonised and to give grip to stuff that might wander in and otherwise have trouble getting out.

We'll soon have a dipping platform installed across one edge. We'll plant it up with native veg. No fish. I'm tempted to turf along the top where the liner and coyo (?) enter the ground.

I'm keen to bung a pile of stone on edge of the pond, and a decent pile of logs on the other. Unfortunately, while the site is secure, people still climb the fences and walk through. I'm worried that I'll find all the rocks and logs in the pond one day, with the consequence of a torn liner. I'm thinking of putting some sort of thin netting over the rocks (rocks are as big as I can lift and place so they would have to go to proper effort to pick them up but it's not beyond them). Perhaps with the logs I could drill through them and anchor them in with road pins?

The overall aim is to have this as a regular use pond dipping area, while demonstrating things that punters can perhaps do at home, e.g. pile of dead wood, untidy bits, bare ground. There will be a new hedge established 1.5m behind the berm.

Anyway, here are a few pics I took a while ago. It's further than this now, I'll get some more pics tomorrow:

[Deb London]

Originally Posted by APC

Yo,
I built a pond at work, about 7-8m x 3-4m. It's terraced nicely and fed by water diverted from the roof of a nearby building (although initially we cheated and used water diverted from a water trough so make the liner harder to steal). After digging it out and berming the downhill side, I removed as many stones as I could, then put down a layer of soft sand approx 3-4cm deep. Then I put down some terram. Then I put down another layer of sand and lined with butyl. The edges of the butyl were dug in with some coarse coconut husk netting (coyo or something, can't remember it's name). This was hung from ground level into the pond for a metre. This was to give a surface to get colonised and to give grip to stuff that might wander in and otherwise have trouble getting out.

We'll soon have a dipping platform installed across one edge. We'll plant it up with native veg. No fish. I'm tempted to turf along the top where the liner and coyo (?) enter the ground.

I'm keen to bung a pile of stone on edge of the pond, and a decent pile of logs on the other. Unfortunately, while the site is secure, people still climb the fences and walk through. I'm worried that I'll find all the rocks and logs in the pond one day, with the consequence of a torn liner. I'm thinking of putting some sort of thin netting over the rocks (rocks are as big as I can lift and place so they would have to go to proper effort to pick them up but it's not beyond them). Perhaps with the logs I could drill through them and anchor them in with road pins?

The overall aim is to have this as a regular use pond dipping area, while demonstrating things that punters can perhaps do at home, e.g. pile of dead wood, untidy bits, bare ground. There will be a new hedge established 1.5m behind the berm.

Anyway, here are a few pics I took a while ago. It's further than this now, I'll get some more pics tomorrow:

This is one solution used for a pile at the Scrubs, and it was still there when I visited a year later.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...58-post24.html

[APC]

Yeah that looks kind of suitable. I'll see if I can get rusty old wire and use that so it doesn't look so inyerface.

Ta!

[jaelen]

Can you cement the rocks into place? Not so much that it shows, just enough to make it impossible to pick them up, maybe.


P.S. Nice big pond, btw!

[King Edward]

How is the area around the pond managed - is the grass grazed or just mown? And what is the pond for - is it primarily educational?

From the overall appearance, I'd have thought you'd want the pond to blend in with its surroundings, so that it looks reasonably natural. A pile of either rocks or logs in this context would look rather odd - right by the pond, out in the middle of a field. I'd put the logs somewhere more appropriate, perhaps up beside one of the hedges or at the edge of the trees. A pile of logs will also retain moisture better and rot down faster (hence supporting more wildlife) in the shade than out in the heat of the sun.

Along with the new hedge, I think you'd do better to establish an area of rough, tussocky grassland around the pond - perhaps have one rough 'no access' side, and a short mown side for getting up close and dipping. Undisturbed rough grassland is a good habitat in its own right, and would also be good cover for young amphibians leaving the pond.

[galanthophile]

Looks like a great project! Well done.