Digging out a pond needs a lot of energy and sometimes brute force. Once the main excavation has taken place you have the opportunity to get into the pond and shape it to exactly how you want it to look.
The digger was great at digging out the basic shape of the pond but it did have it’s limitations. It couldn’t provide a smooth finish or provide intricacies such as the addition of ledges and planting shelves – these would have to be done by hand.
Don’t fret about getting into your pond – it’s the only way to get a fish eye view of the construction. If possible, try to build when it’s forecast to be dry as working in a wet pond is no fun. The mud sticks to your boots ripping up the surface you are trying to flatten.
Most pond owners enjoy planting-out their water gardens with water plants. Some of these plants will sit at the bottom of the pond, some will float whilst others will need just their roots in the water. Bog plants just need a moist area. If you are not sure which pond plants you are going to install don’t worry too much, just try to incorporate a few ledges in the sides of your pond where these pond plants can rest. Try to make these ledges 6” (15cm) wide if possible so the plants don’t topple.
It is easier to make the final pond shape by using hand tools also. For instance you may want to emphasise a curve or add an inlet or two. You will find that now the pond build is underway new opportunities will appear and original plans may need to alter course. Don’t worry, this is all part of the fun! If installing a flexible pond liner as we were on this job the pond liner and pond liner underlay can adjust to any shape (just be careful to make sure your pond liner is big enough -many people get over enthusiastic when digging!)
In our case we decided quite late on that we wanted to include a gentle slope into the pond. This was both a aesthetic, ecoclogical and safety decision. With it being a front garden pond, and with both of our children still being young we wanted to ensure that the pond was easy to get out from should anyone unfortunately fall in. This slope has the same benefit for any wildlife that strays too close such as hedgehogs and even natural pond inhabitants such as frogs enjoy having easy access. The slope was also added because we liked the idea of adding a beach effect to the pond, we thought it would look good and give the children somewhere to splodge in their wellies.
You can just see in this picture the pond slope being built up. Being in the pond itself made it easy to get the pitch of this slope right. To construct a slope simply pour down loose soil and earth and compact it by your feet. Once you are happy with the basic design you have cut into the ground the final stage of preparation is to smooth the pond surface