My new pond needed about two and a half of these to get it half filled
Most guides to pond making start with the location and design of the pond.
In fact the most important thing to think about is where the water will come from.
This is because we are so used to getting unlimited quantities of water from the tap that we are often stumped when it comes to finding the several hundred, or maybe even several thousand, litres of water needed to fill a pond with clean water.
So in planning a new wildlife pond – given the importance of getting clean water if we want to maximise the wildlife value of the pond – the key design feature is not what shape or depth or size the pond should be but – how will I get the water that I need to start the pond off.
And that first fill of clean water is critical. Once you got the pond started its easy to find enough rainwater to keep it topped up – mostly the stuff will simply fall straight into the pond from the sky.
But most people don’t have 500-1000 litres of stored rainwater just lying about to get everything started – that’s why this is the most cricital planning step.
You don’t have to store water in rainwater butts of course – any reasonably large clean container will do. Or dozens of buckets!
