Help me build a pond please

[HARLEY45]

First off I did a search before making this my first post so if I missed it please be gentle. I live in Indiana USA and just purchased a new home as I have an interest in photography I have been redoing the landscaping to attract birds. I am at the point of adding a small pond and a fountain in hopes of attracting birds. I read that bird ponds should only be 1.5 to 3 inches deep and most of the preformed kits available seem to be 2feet deep what have some others done to overcome this? Thanks for all the advice and if I need to provide more information please let me know.

[delia todd]

Hi Harley I see this is your first post, so may I welcome you on behalf of the Staff and Moderators at Bird Forum

I'm sure there will be someone along soon with lots of ideas for you

D

[erniehatt]

Hi Harley, Welcome to BF, the way I made my pond was to dig the hole, line it with heavy duty plastic sheet, then some wire mesh, the type they use for chicken coups, then line it with a couple of inches of concrete, add some waterproveer in the mix. You will have to make it a bit deeper in the centre for the pump. Ernie

[HARLEY45]

My first thought was to buy one of the 2foot deep ponds and stack rocks around the edges to lessen the depth and leave the center deep for a fountain, anybody try that?

[Johnny1]

My first thought was to buy one of the 2foot deep ponds and stack rocks around the edges to lessen the depth and leave the center deep for a fountain, anybody try that?

Hi Harley, I don't know what your winters are like there but if you have freezing weather then your pond needs to be at least 18inches deep or it will freeze solid. I myself built a pond roughly 16ft X 10ft and 2 ft deep with shallower ledges (for plants) and a nice shallow edge for the birds to bathe in.

[Isurus]

Hi Harley, I don't know what your winters are like there but if you have freezing weather then your pond needs to be at least 18inches deep or it will freeze solid. I myself built a pond roughly 16ft X 10ft and 2 ft deep with shallower ledges (for plants) and a nice shallow edge for the birds to bathe in.

Welcome Harley
There is some excellent information on ponds for birders from your region on the audubon site - a series of articles under audubon at home I think. Also look at the excellent Water Gardeners International site. These guys really know their stuff and most of them are North American so the info will suit you. I personally recommend against pre-formed ponds and would suggest getting a liner and making a shape that suits your site exactly. You do want a shallow area but also a deeper bit to allow all that cool non-avian wildlife you're going to attract like salamander efts to overwinter. One way to get round this is to slope the pond with a beach at one end for the birds and a deeper area elsewhere for the other stuff.

[timwootton]

Definitely 'build your own', Harley - look to nature for examples of pleasing shapes and follow the excellent advice from the above contributors. One thing I would add is - make it big enough! When you draw out your shape (use a rope to delineate the outline - or shoreline) it will look huge on the ground. Don't be fooled - make it bigger again by half - assuming you have the room. Once you've lined the hole (and depth ought to be at least 18" IN PLACES) with sharp sand, and then with old carpet (prevents sharp stones piercing the liner) and finally your butyl flexible liner and filled with water, the pond will have miraculously shrunk to a tiny percentage of your vision. Also the larger the waterbody - the better the ecosystem it will provide.
Keep us posted and good luck.
Oh - personally I'd avoid the fountain, but each to their own.

[Isurus]

Definitely 'build your own', Harley - look to nature for examples of pleasing shapes and follow the excellent advice from the above contributors. One thing I would add is - make it big enough! When you draw out your shape (use a rope to delineate the outline - or shoreline) it will look huge on the ground. Don't be fooled - make it bigger again by half - assuming you have the room. Once you've lined the hole (and depth ought to be at least 18" IN PLACES) with sharp sand, and then with old carpet (prevents sharp stones piercing the liner) and finally your butyl flexible liner and filled with water, the pond will have miraculously shrunk to a tiny percentage of your vision. Also the larger the waterbody - the better the ecosystem it will provide.
Keep us posted and good luck.
Oh - personally I'd avoid the fountain, but each to their own.

Tim's point about size is very important. No matter how big it looks empty (or when you have a shovel in your hand!) it will look small as soon as you fill it and smaller still when you put plants in. That said even if you can only manage a tiny pool it can be very good for wildlife.

now i'm not in such a rush here are the links I mentioned earlier (audubon have moved their site around so there should be more good stuff there if you nose around):
http://www.watergardenersinternational.org/
http://magazine.audubon.org/backyard/backyard0306.html
http://magazine.audubon.org/backyard/backyard9807.html

[emupilot]

Like others, I recommend digging a hole to your specifications with a shallow "beach" for feathered bathers. You can line it with heavy plastic or EPDM (rubber). Then get smooth river rock to cover the liner. There are solar powered fountains which can keep the water aerated and create a pleasant splashing noise which attracts birds. Don't forget a mosquito "dunk" or larvicide so you won't get uninvited visitors!

[spleengirl]

I have large pond with a flexible liner. That way you can pre make the hole. Mine is one metre deep for overwintering wildlife with a pebble beach at one end that the birds drink from. I have also put long grass right up to the edge of the pond as the birds love the mud for their nests. Also you will attract incects which the birds eat. Having a pond is fascinating!! Good luck

[JMomOhio]

I filled in my pond with dirt and installed a fountain instead. I found that the pond was attracting other critters as well. It was attracting the birds, racoons, chipmunks, snakes, frogs, deer..........you name it! It was making the birds easy prey for the cats, and the fish I put in there were eaten by the racoons. I guess it all depends on your environment if it will work well for you. I thought it was a great idea, but it ended up being more trouble than it was worth. My fountain is always full of birds taking a bath or getting a drink. Even the hummers like it.

Julie

[phil_a]

I've used a sloping pebble beach and also different height flat stones in the water which allowed birds of different size to water bath and drink. If the pond is near some shrubs warblers seem happy to visit (thats european warblers in my case) but you do not want a totally shaded pond they get a bit unpleasant. Its also is an annual chore to clear leaves as well as excess pond weed. Remember not to use a garden fork and puncture the liner as you tend to find your never allowed to forget that sort of thing. Emergent plants can be put in pots on ledges.

If you build your own check all your margins well with a good spirit level on a long enough bit of wood to reach all the margins otherwise you may find the water level is not what you hoped for.

There are good under liners to protect the butyl; stone slabs can be a good thing to use to cover the exposed butyl, I'm biased as I had lots of fun watching grass snake in my pond which hid under the slabs.

A shallow pond would have evaporation problems and would not have such a wide range of other species, but could still have value for birds to drink at, you would be kept busy filling it up, I've never bothered with a fountain.

[john181]

What a lot of advice, so I'll keep it short and gentle. As big as you have room and money for. Deep in the middle. Stepped for marginal plants in containers. Big gently sloping pebble beach. Line it well with old carpet or something. Use butyl rubber - nothing else flexible is tough enough to last. Forget the fountain. Don't use chemicals to control the ecology. It WILL go green and nasty looking for a while but hold your nerve and in time it will clear. Plant water weeds to use up the water nutrients - that helps it to clear. If you want to attract native wildlife don't introduce ornamental fish. The exception might be guppies if you have a mosquito larvae problem. Guppies can only survive in a climate where the water is warm all year round.

We have a pond like this. We also have a small swirly water feature sunk into the garden called a Flowform. The birds love it to drink and bathe. Again NO CHEMICALS!

[Euan Buchan]

I have one with the plastic shell which you put in your hole. Once it's done you forget it's plastic but think of it as stone

[john181]

Yes ours is plastic too but you can't tell. One thing I forgot to say about digging a pond - you need a good spirit level as nothing looks worse than a big expanse of liner at one end of the pond, even when it's full at the other end - a mistake I once made!

[snowyowl]

My pond is 9x9x3.5 ft. I put down a layer of fibre glass pink insulation to protect the liner from sharp stones. I used a flexible liner. All the birds need is a shallow area to bathe in. Don't use concrete for the pond because of the risk of frost cracking. I prefer not to put rocks on the bottom because it makes it too tough to clean the pond something I do annually. Put in lots of plants and some cheap goldfish. The plants will help the pond to stay healthy and the fish will control mosquito larvae.
I've allowed my pond to be as wild as possible and now we get a some good wildlife around it, dragonflies, salamanders, toads etc.
I can leave my fish in year round because to the depth of the pond but with on of the small preformed ponds you will probably have to remove them in winter or loose them to freeze up.
Have fun with the pond and your new house.

[3littlebirdslandscaping]

Use a liner instead preformed, you can then shape the pond any way you choose. The options are endless and can even incorporate a bog to attract and benefit dragonflies, also look into a fountain that sprays a fine mist that the Hummingbirds enjoy. I am a Backyard Habitat Ambassador for the National Wildlife Federation and a landscaper for the last 15 years. Please conntact me if you have any other Q's or visit www.NWF.org (gardening for nature). When your landscape is complete think about certifying your yard as a Baskyard Habitat.