Creating a wildlife pond requires clean water, a varied design and for the broadest range of habitation, it will benefit greatly from being located near to other wetlands. This may be beyond your sphere of influence but proximity will ensure that your new pond is an extension of an existing habitat rather than a completely new oasis of life.

Ensuring clean water in a wildlife pond will generally not include the use of pond filters and pumps. To maintain clean water under these circumstances it is important to locate the pond so that it is not exposed to pollutants through run-off water, or being fed by a potentially polluted stream and is also not exposed to garden or agricultural chemicals.

Wildlife ponds benefit from a varied design that may include deep water, shallow beaches and extended draw down areas that may well dry out over the summer months. It may seem alien to create a pond and contemplate leaving it to partially dry out over summer but this is part of the natural cycle for a wildlife pond and should not necessarily be considered a bad thing.

Ideally you should allow the pond to colonise with plant and wildlife naturally. This is where proximity to other wetlands is most advantageous as the process will be far quicker. Patience is a virtue in these early days but the naturally colonised pond will be on a good footing for a long and productive life. Temptation to help things along should be resisted but in the event you do help out, ensure that only native plants are used.

When designing a pond there are many aspects to consider such as size, type of pond (e.g. fish or wildlife) liner materials, features and equipment. One other important aspect is the shape of the pond. Planning the shape of your pond is closely linked to planning the size of the pond. These are both considerations that will most likely be influenced by the space available.

Assuming there is space available to be more creative with your design, it is wise to consider the impact that certain shapes may have on the water environment. It may not be entirely practical to go completely free form when designing the shape of the pond.

Having an extremely complex pond shape will contribute to a considerably more complicated building project and maintenance regime. Arguably a little short term inconvenience should not deter anybody from pursuing their more creative tendencies, but a project that forces unplanned compromises and potentially unappealing characteristics such as excessively folded pond liners may not be considered a real success. Corners on your pond are more likely to enable water to stagnate.

Ideally the pond shape should complement the available space but not restrict water movement or create dead spots where little life is likely to thrive.

Once all the initial stages of your pond have been completed and you have introduced plants and installed all your equipment such as pumps and filters. There will need to be an intensive regime of testing the pond water to ensure that all is well.

During these initial first weeks, the pond water will be devoid of the biological conditions required to maintain healthy fish. This will be the case even if you have installed a biological filter. A healthy pond has a delicate balance of micro-organisms, fish and plants that ultimately support the existence each other in a self sustaining eco-system.

Assuming that fish are the desired inhabitants of your new pond, the primary issue with adding fish to a pond is that they continuously pollute the water which they not only swim and feed in but also obtain their source of the oxygen from that they need to survive. The pollutants that are generated by fish both compromise the ability of the water to store dissolved oxygen but also contribute to skin irritations and other health issues amongst fish. This water quality is further exacerbated by composting materials in the pond such as excess fish food or fallen leaves.

The problem with the early life of a pond is that the bacterium does not exist in sufficient numbers to process the pollutants in the water. These bacteria will slowly build up in your pond over a period of weeks so it is wise to wait for a few weeks before adding fish to your pond.

If you hope to have both fish and wildlife in a pond environment in your own back garden, it is probably wise to look at the possibility of having two ponds rather than one. If you are fortunate enough to have sufficient space for a substantially sized pond and are prepared to have a limited stock of fish, you will most likely find your fish pond will happily develop its own natural inhabitants without disaster. Should you either introduce fish to a more modest wildlife pond, or vice versa, the most likely outcome is that the fish will devastate the wildlife population.

To encourage wildlife to your nature pond, it is important to offer a variety of water depths for varied planting and a mix of flatter beaches in addition to shaded areas. It is also helpful to introduce a natural surround to the pond rather than stark slabs for example. Frogs will thrive in a swampy area and the addition of a woodpile will encourage a broad variety of land based wildlife also.

If you are faced with the challenge of needing two ponds in order to have a wildlife pond, the advantage is that the wildlife pond does not need to be of a large size to be successful. Natural habitats are of short supply, but even if they weren’t, nature has a way of exploiting suitable environments. The result is that even the tiniest of water gardens will be a haven for some wildlife.

Part of the process of designing a pond and truly maximising its visual appeal is in landscaping the surrounding area. A common material that will be present in or around most ponds is rock or stone.

They types of stone used and the way they are employed can be paramount to creating a successful landscape. Personal taste will have a huge impact on what you may set out to achieve, but the vast majority of water gardeners will be seeking to create a natural feel in the garden.

Whilst achieving a natural look enables a broad spectrum of design ideas, there are certain rules that need to be adhered to. If your garden already contains a certain type of rock, it is ideal to employ the same materials in landscaping your pond. A sandstone rockery next to a limestone waterfall that feeds into a dark granite based pond will look decidedly odd.

For the budding artistes amongst us, the rule book can be ignored and a contemporary or abstract theme can definitely deliver staggering results. A modern theme can be every bit as relaxing as natural looking pond but success is much harder to achieve without a real understanding of design concepts or natural artistic flair. Whilst nobody should be discouraged from experimenting, a truly radical but ill-conceived design may result in an expensive landscaping activity that is destined for failure and regret.

Other simple rules to follow are to avoid the use of smooth rock around the ponds edge as this may pose a safety risk. Sharp rocks in and around the pond always have a risk of threatening the ponds water tightness and lastly, whatever type of rock and stone is used, wash it first. Rocks can have been exposed to all manner of chemicals that may well not mix with fish. Washing is a very simple precaution to take.

Vibrantly coloured dragonflies hovering above garden pond are both an iconic and striking summer image. It probably comes as no surprise that a dragonfly’s life around water is generally restricted to a few short summer months. Unlike many other insects with a similar short lifespan however, the story of the dragonfly is slightly different. Prior to the relatively normal lifespan of a few months the dragonfly has resided, for possibly several years, in the water as a nymph.

As nymphs, these are prolific hunters that will devour anything and everything they can catch from tadpole to small fry. In some eyes this leads to their perception as an unwelcome visitor. In most cases this is disingenuous; they will simply help support the natural balance of the ponds eco-system and help to manage populations of other life forms (including other predatory insects).

As the dragon fly emerges from the water for its first and final summer above the water, it simply leaves the water, sheds a skin and after drying its wings in the sun is ready to go. From this point onwards, the dragonfly continues its reign as a prolific hunter. With both speed and agility the dragonfly is a formidable threat to anything creature that looks fair game.

Dragonfly numbers are totally dependent on the availability of suitable ponds, so providing your pond is not overrun with these voracious mini beasts, they should be truly appreciated for the beautiful creatures they are.

One of your desires for your water garden may be to encourage local wildlife. In natural habitats, ponds will support and encourage a broad variety of visiting wildlife. Whilst your garden boundaries may limit access to some of the larger land based mammals, there will be undoubtedly be a broad spectrum of visitors, whether they are welcome or not.

With so many ponds having been lost throughout Britain, many species will be drawn to any suitable ponds that appear, even in the most densely populated urban areas. If you are actively trying to encourage a broad spectrum of wildlife from the outset, it is important to design your pond so that it offers a variety of habitats and also some safety features to enable non-voluntary swimmers to escape.

Some of the key requirements to encouraging wildlife are having a variety of depths to the pond that will enable varied planting, flatter beaches that will allow both wading birds to bathe and other creatures to escape the water. Shaded areas around the pond, created by a combination of features such as a rockery and planting will provide the ideal habitat for frogs and many other creatures that do not spend all of the time in the water itself.

Encouraging wildlife to a new pond is actually very straightforward but does require patience. There is no need to artificially introduce creatures as invariably this ends in disaster for them. If allowed to come of their own accord, your visitors will soon arrive in sustainable numbers and surprising variety.

Everybody knows what stepping stones are, and most people will have encountered a set at some time or other. However, they are not a particularly common sight and as such potentially offer one of the less common features you could add to your pond. They can provide both a way to experience areas of your pond that would otherwise be inaccessible and also an interesting draw, and discussion point for visitors.

Stepping stones are definitely a feature to be installed with great care. If you are going to have them, it is almost inevitable that at some point somebody will get wet in dramatic circumstances. Whilst it may be fiscally beneficial to have the video camera to hand at the time of a genuine accident, it is not wise to facilitate accidents through a poorly fitted set of stones.

Unless you have an unusually large pond that could accommodate the larger boulders required to put the stones through deeper water, you will need to put the stones across a shallower part of the pond. Whatever the depth, they will need to be installed on a horizontal footing to avoid significant movement. The stones should ideally be placed to allow a natural stride length of approximately 18 inches. Working in the dry the stones should be placed in position on a deep layer of cushioning material that will both sufficiently support the stones without movement and protect the pond lining from puncture. The levelling and the height of the stones is important and will also require re-visiting at a later date after the stones have settled.