Water Features

How to Create a Wildlife Pond

A beautiful wildlife pond will attract a whole host of beneficial animals, birds and insects. Make one with sloping sides, to allow easy access for creatures to come and go, and leafy edges that offer habitat and cover.

Excerpted from How to Grow Practically Everything
Filed under: Ponds, How To, Foliage Plants

Finish Off

Place rocks in the water but protect the liner from damage by placing them on cushions of folded plastic sacks or spare rolled-up liner. Ensure the rocks are stable, but don't mortar them in. The pond is now ready to plant. Use the shelves around the sides for marginal plants, and the deeper areas for submerged aquatics, such as water lilies.

Tip: Choosing Pond Plants

There are four main types of pond plants — deep-water aquatics, oxygenators, marginals and bog plants. Water lilies are deep-water aquatics and sit on the bottom of the pond, although some will grow in shallow water. Check the depth required on the label (measured from the pot surface) and
raise them up on bricks as required.

Oxygenators are essential plants that help keep the water clear. Marginals, such as the marsh marigold (Image 1), prefer the shallows around the edge of the pond, and will be happiest on the shelf (see Step 2). Site bog plants in the damp area around the pond — not in the water.