Step By Step How To Build A Wildlife Pond For Your Garden Or Allotment

UK Here We Grow

In this episode of UK Here We Grow, Tony O'Neill shows you how to build a wildlife pond step by step. He gives you some excellent tips and tricks on creating a pond that will not only allow you to keep wildlife and fish together in harmony, but will also show you how to keep them safe from herons, cats and other predators. Subscribe for more Free YouTube gardening tips: https://goo.gl/7VoRhk Share this video with a YouTuber friend: https://goo.gl/RdfpLF My most recent upload: https://goo.gl/n3QNQF My Most Popular Upload: https://goo.gl/ZKAq5J Support Us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ukherewegrow Utilising pond underlay and a pond liner Tony O'Neill creates a love habitat for all wildlife, bringing them onto the allotment which will help him with his quest to remain organic. A pond will help provide an ideal place for frogs and birds all of which will help you combat the slugs and snails found around the garden. During this video, you will see Tony using the Wilkinson Sword Border Spade and Border Fork. He uses these tools as they are smaller than a normal spade and fork and allow him to mould and form the pond in much better detail. UKHWG have been able to secure a 10% discount for our members on all Wilkinson Sword tools available on their website. To get this discount enter the code UKHWG at checkout. Their website is available on the following link https://wilkinsonsword-tools.co.uk/ please note the expiry for this discount code is 31st December 2016 Join us at the following:- Our site http://www.UKherewegrow.com https://www.facebook.com/ukherewegrow/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/UKHereWeGrow/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/UkHeresABargain/ Twitter https://twitter.com/UKHerewegrow Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TonysAllotment/posts Email Tony@UKherewegrow.com We would like to welcome all our new subscribers and thank you all for supporting UK here We Grow "Carefree" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Step By Step How To Build A Wildlife Pond For Your Garden Or Allotment 430 19

Pond 8 years ago 41,758 views

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California Girl - 7 years ago

Your pond turned out great! The hiding area you created around the edge (under the capstones) is brilliant. This is exactly what I will do to keep the raccoons out of our frog pond when we build it. Thank you for sharing. :-) Nicole

California Girl - 7 years ago

UK Here We Grow
Thanks Tony, I'll check it out. :-)

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Hi Nicole, I am glad it was of interest to you. we built a bigger pond by refurbing an old concrete pond the same way but added a stone waterfall that may interest you. check out the pond refurb playlist.
Tony

paul craig - 6 years ago

Good thing the girl was there to help you dig otherwise it would have taken much longer

UK Here We Grow - 6 years ago

lol Paul, shes a grafter :)

UK Here We Grow - 6 years ago

No it attracts animals that eat slugs and snails. perfect way to control them organically

UK Here We Grow - 6 years ago

Excellent would love to see the finished pond

o000omusico000o - 6 years ago

i love how you done the pond i am hoping to move my pond in garden and have loads of bugs already in water .did you have before and if so did u tip them in to new pond.

UK Here We Grow - 6 years ago

Yes the pond was at the old site so moved some stuff from there. but the pond itself is new

Jyoti Karnik - 7 years ago

thanks for the video...i do share your enthusiasm though i do not have my own space and am doing whatever i can in my rented premises. but i got fair idea of what i can do more, thanks to you tony...happy ponding!

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Jyoti Karnik glad it was of interest. Thanks

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Thats great your trying to fit something in even in a rented place. Well done :)

Karen Lam - 7 years ago

I almost immediately got rid of the rubber mats I used to make hiding places in my pond. Instead, to solve the problem of no room for bricks or stones on my one narrow shelf I put an oblong plastic kitchen refuse bin on it and put a clump of iris back in the pond so that its thick mat of roots acted as a roof on top of it and hid it from view. I weighted the roots down with stones. In the bottom of the pond I submerged a spare plastic watering can for the (hoped for) baby fish to hide in. I only had three fish left because of herons. I made a mini beach for creatures to gain access to the water and protect the lining with the help of stones, gravel, and waterproof cement. The fish seem to like their new hiding place and the hoped for baby fish are now a reality! So pleased I found your video and learnt how to improve my pond.

Karen Lam - 7 years ago

thank you!

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

That is fantastic news, I am glad that its now working and the fish are loving their new home. Just be mindful the cement doesn't change the ph and make it alkaline, if it does but a pond sealer and seal it and you're perfect. any luck the heron will be a thing of past and this time next year you will have loads of baby fish.

Karen Lam - 7 years ago

That hiding area is SO clever!

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

That's a great re use of mats, and I'm sure the fish will love their new hiding place, esp if a heron is about. glad the videos have inspired you to make alterations in your pond, :)

Karen Lam - 7 years ago

Thank you so much for your information! After I saw this I realized the shallow space I had once provided for creatures to reach the water in my own pond was now over grown with iris. I have now planted the iris in the ground beside the pond instead and made the slope where they were more gradual with stones and gravel. Also I had made no provision for the fish to hide, apart for the weed. As there is not enough room on my shallow shelfs for bricks and stones as you have I made some speedy improvisations this morning. I took up my two rubber door mats that have holes in them! I laced them together lengthways and hung one side over the edge of the pond, so that it covered the edge of the lining and also hung down slanting over the shallow shelf to provide a hiding place. Then, where the mat was in the water, I took some of the copious moss that grows in my pond and pushed it into the holes of the mats to grow there. I also put stones over the part on the edge of the pond to secure it and planted ivy to drape over it for camouflage.It looks good and I hope the fish like it.

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Thanks, Karen, It works really well we had a Heron coming for around 2 weeks, not one fish did it get and it gave up and hasn't come back since. It's worked so well I refurbished my mother 30 yr old concrete pond and did a similar thing but on a bigger scale and added a hibernaculum and waterfall. you can find that episode in the ponds playlist.

Yvonne Skeppstedt Schill - 7 years ago

Really nice little film of you building this wild life pond. Best I have sen so far. Many good ideas. So thank you so much for sharing this.Can't wait to get digging. All the best from Yvonne in Sweden mid August 2017.

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Hi, Yvonne from Sweden. Welcome to the channel, Glad you enjoyed the video, If you go to the pond playlist just after building this one I did a refurb of an old concrete pond very similar in the end, but this had a hibernaculum and a waterfall. might be of interest to you too. Thanks very much for taking the time to comment and pass on your thoughts, it is very much appreciated

10. comment for Step By Step How To Build A Wildlife Pond For Your Garden Or Allotment

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Yeah, it's such a great idea. Stops the herons from getting the fish and everything can hide from each other

Gemini Rhythm Spirit - 7 years ago

Thanks man, great vid,

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Thanks for your comment. i am glad it was of interest

V Macdonald - 7 years ago

This is maybe a stupid question, but do you have to feed the fish? Or is it just Koi that need fed?

V Macdonald - 7 years ago

UK Here We Grow thank you

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

You will need to feed them at the very least until the pond gets established, eventually, there will be enough wildlife for them to eat, but i would feed either way

kazaamBLAM - 7 years ago

this is great, many thanks. will try something similar in NZ. would love to see an update video! do you think I could use recycled wool blanket for underlay to save money?

jreppoh - 6 years ago

20 plus years ago I had to cut out roots a from a pecan tree and we only used .newspaper. Pond has been fine all theses years. I think carpet would work too. I would for sure use what you have. Just yesterday there was a light layer of ice on top along with a squirrel Jim let the dog out and he fell threw , squirrel almost gott caught.

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Hi if you check out the last video Garden tour right at the end you will see the pond as it was yesterday. Thanks for your views and comments :) I would be very interested to see the outcome of your pond when complete

Kieran Dale - 7 years ago

Keep it up mate love what u do and I love that pond

Andy Hill - 7 years ago

really enjoyed the vid m8,got some good ideas from it,cheers

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Glad it was of interest to you. Be good to see yours when done

Andrew Mapplebeck - 7 years ago

Excellent job!

2ashi - 7 years ago

well done,amazing video very helpful

will bargamento - 7 years ago

cool bro keep doing it.....☺☺☺☺

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Glad it was of interest to you.

Shoreasiamensis Shoreasiamensis - 7 years ago

Which one is better to used pond liner or pond tub...?

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Liner gives you more scope

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Orchid Htang your welcome

Shoreasiamensis Shoreasiamensis - 7 years ago

Thank you for your reply... I got it now... Double thank you... :-) You have a nice pond... Congrats...:-)

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Orchid Htang a liner allows you to have any shape and size you desire. a tub you stuck to the form and very limited in size

Dan Price - 7 years ago

looks amazing well done matey

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

Cheers, Dan. Glad it was of interest :)

20. comment for Step By Step How To Build A Wildlife Pond For Your Garden Or Allotment

Ant's Allotment - 7 years ago

looking great

barnbersonol - 7 years ago

I thought a pond has to be for fish OR frogs/tads, not both??

UK Here We Grow - 7 years ago

The reason for this thinking is that in a standard pond fish would eat tadpoles, however, in this pond, there is so many nooks and crannies that they can co-habit

Jason David Walton - 8 years ago

Your videos are very inspiring mate. Just got my first allotment so would love to try a few things out myself.

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Jason David Walton Thanks Jason good luck on your new plot. thanks for viewing. looking forward to chatting more as the year progresses. there is another pond build put on after this one

Benja's Uber 1337 Hobby - 8 years ago

Looks great!

o00oZu1o00o - 8 years ago

It looks absolutely amazing!

o00oZu1o00o - 8 years ago

+UK Here We Grow You Guys are doing an amazing job! So glad I found this channel.
Looking forward to seeing the waterfall and how it's working.

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Thats great I started the demolition of my mother 30 year old pond today so im also filming the new one too. this one will be bigger but the procedure is the same apart from a lot of concrete to move. build a hibernaculum and waterfall

o00oZu1o00o - 8 years ago

+UK Here We Grow many thanks! I really think I'm building this.... This was not my plan, but it has all the features I would want, I had never thought that you could do the slope with the gravel and the stones that keep the gravel contained. It erases all the negative I saw concerning having a pond in the garden.
I think I'm going with high grade clay compacted and in thick layer instead of the cloth.
I'll let you know in this comment thread if I actually build it. Should be before next spring. Right now I'm building urban scale swales and modifying the gutters to harvest rainwater.

Thanks again for uploading this, totally changed my mind about a pond.

Julien

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Yes If You Build It They Will Come ;) water is important no matter how small, you will see how much of a big difference it will make

o00oZu1o00o - 8 years ago

+UK Here We Grow Hey can you tell me? Now I want to build one just like that, but I have only a small space. Do you think that this same exact one, but half the size and the same depth as this one (or even deeper) : will it work? Will the fauna come?

Also, you rely on frogs against mosquitos, isn't it?

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Thanks Glad you enjoyed it

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Yeah it would have mate but i wanted rain water in the pond, this way didnt have to worry about chlorine or anything . It is a shame that its tucked away but when i finish the area it be a nice chill out place

angela raimondo - 8 years ago

wildlife ponds are brill , i made one which is full of wildlife , i even have some fish which i didnt put in lol, dont know what they are but deffo fish , any how if you put goldfish in which are carp by the way they will eat any eggs or spawn that amphibians lay so putting fish in kind of defeats the object , good luck with the pond by the way anything to encourage our wildlife is awesome :)

Petes Back Garden - 8 years ago

You don't do things by half do you mate. That's a beautiful spot to have on the plot

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Pete, if you decide to do something i think you should do it to the best of your abilities. dont you agree? :)

Linda Penney - 8 years ago

Awesome update thanks for sharing have a blessed day

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

cheers Graham glad you enjoyed the video

30. comment for Step By Step How To Build A Wildlife Pond For Your Garden Or Allotment

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

thats great mate. get that wildlife back.

Aaron's allotment - 8 years ago

I have to say mate that I think this is when you are at your best. Massive project - break it down into sections - amazing design - well executed - like a boss. Brilliant video. I would be interested in your thoughts of building up the banks rather than digging down. There is an area next to my plot that I am considering taking over and a pond would be a great addition, but the reason it is free is because once you get a foot down you hit rock. I do have access to the never ending pile of muck and so I could use it to build banks up and form a series of shelves that way but wondered if you can think of any pit falls. The immediate one that struck me is that the banks will have to be thick and withstand pressure from the water and pressure from the rain. I wondered if flag stones would be a good support. Anyway your design was brilliant. Loved the video. I reckon Tina will be on at you to build a Jacuzzi at hoe now :-) All the best.

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Cheers Aaron. yes mate you could build banks. but an easier way would be build a timber frame like a raised bed 2x4 boxed should be strong enough 2x6 better

Mary Phillips - 8 years ago

I must show my husband this... He did build a wildlife pond for my allotment, with a moulded liner, but it's not a patch on this. In fact only this morning he mentioned he wasn't happy with it. So I might have a new pond soon. Thanks for showing this Tony.

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Glad it was of interest and help to you Mary. I would be very interested to see the results if you can post pics.

RD Kitchen Garden - 8 years ago

Really nice video. Lots of useful tips :)

brian faulkner - 8 years ago

Hi Tony
just started watching your vids and some great idea,s that you have and will sure be using some of them
many thanks
Brian

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Hi Brian. Welcome to the group. thanks for your comments. loads of videos to look at and we also have some great fb and twitter groups. look forward to sharing ideas with you

Nic's Allotment - 8 years ago

Great job there Tony. I might copy your idea with the gap between the liner and the stone. I built my pond earlier this year - it's video 5 if you want a peep. Keep up the good work. All the best Nic

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

will take a look nic thanks for viewing

stanleywf3 - 8 years ago

That's an amazing pond!
You have inspired me to make a start on mine tomorrow

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Perfect. its easy just watch your back on the dig. but enjoy it and at the end sit back and look what you did. next year you will reap the rewards as everything moves in

Dave Turner - 8 years ago

tony why don't you put a solar pond fountain pump in it that will keep it clean and put oxosegen in pond ....dave..

Dave Turner - 8 years ago

WELL DONE TONY...that was a fantastic film to watch you done well and you make it look so easy ,did you do it on your own did you have any help well done........Dave.....

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

hi Dave all done on my own. i have not put a fountain in as the lady in the house behind doesnt want to hear running water. however later i may create an underwater movement so reduces the noise of water movement

The Grumpy Gardener - 8 years ago

Built a few of these in my time so nice to see someone else doing the work!! The only thing I disagree with is adding the fish straight away as the water needs to settle first and each fish requires 10 gallons of water volume. By the way for you tube purposes you should have worn speedo''s lol!!

The Grumpy Gardener - 8 years ago

and what's the reason why didn't wear speedo's :)

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

lol the water in this pond is rainwater it was the same temp as the water taking from the pond. there is no chlorine in it and no sediment to worry about settling. i still floated the fish to ensure. the fish were added to the last pond for the kids. we had tons of frog spawn and tadpoles with no issues and with the wall there will be areas they can get that the fish cant

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Its not hard just time consuming. take your time and have a go

Scottyrafferty - 8 years ago

Great job Tony. Looking forward to joining you for a cuppa once your bench is in situ ;)

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

I have the bench but it needs refurbing as its all in bits and all dowels are snapped. need to drill it all out and re fix it all

mystery gardener - 8 years ago

Tony that's fantastic. I would love this in my allotment you make it all so easy, you are a great teacher. Thanks for showing your work. Andy. ps. Will you be showing how the re-build of your pollytunnel. Andy

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Hi Andy. Yes im in the middle of editing it now.

Ali In Spain - 8 years ago

Lovely job Tony, looks great

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Cheers Ali. be much better as the area matures

Eric S - 8 years ago

Looks great!

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Thanks Eric :)

Bionic Rasta - 8 years ago

Well laid out pond, great idea with that channel also there will be no liner showing when levels drop. Will you be building a hibernacle like at the old plot? did all the 18 fish go in? & will you be filling in the old pond?

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

I may build a hibernaculum it will depend on the space as id also like to use the area to chill out when having a cuppa. I will be filling in the old one as I ahve given up 2 plots out of the 3 there. I am keeping the last as storage for woodchips and parking for the poultry as they are staying where they are

Bill Duffy - 8 years ago

Great job Tony . Good to see you are on the mend. Best wishes from Oz .

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Cheers Bill. Been a weird year but glad im sorted :)

jennifer ley - 8 years ago

hi how much would it cost ? to make one the same ? ty xxx

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Thats a great deal you found there. and great advice for others to check their local aquatic store. who knows they maybe as lucky as you were. :)

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Hi Jennifer, the liner and underlay cost me around £30 from ebay. thats the total cost other than some time building and collecting the rocks. ask some people with ponds for spare plants to get you started

Triple B (Bend it, Break it, Bodge it!) - 8 years ago

check your local fish shop (not fishmonger lol, ponds etc) they often have deals on liners £10-50 ) to get people into ponds (mine started at 8ft round and is now 35,000 ltrs they tend to grow)

Number Eight - 8 years ago

Great video, I learned a lot about how to build a proper pond (In more permaculture terms). good stuff.

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Thanks number eight. glad it was of interest and helped you with some ideas. :)

Patrick Meehan - 8 years ago

Yo will have plenty of Newts too.

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

Thanks Patrick hopefully lots of newts

50. comment for Step By Step How To Build A Wildlife Pond For Your Garden Or Allotment

KILLKING110 - 8 years ago

do you guys have mosquito problems with those ponds periodically if so whats your solution and here in Colorado United States we just now got our rainwater rights back from the state we can only have up to 150 gallons of water at once for now but these type of laws that strip people of rights is whats driving me out of the state.

UK Here We Grow - 8 years ago

No we dont tend to get those probs here, however, maybe a candle of some sort might address the issue.

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