It’s a couple of years since we added a raised wildlife pond to the garden. It’s one of the best things we’ve done to bring the place to life.

(Image of the pond from April 2024)

Since we put in the pond, and I’ve blogged about it, a few people asked for a post on how we did it.

It’s taken time to get round to writing it down, but better late than never.

If you have any technical questions, like ‘which solar powered pump do I need’ or ‘what type of damselfly is that’ I politely direct you to google, as I’m not an expert. But I’m happy to share a bit of what we learned along the way.

Here’s how we did it.

First up – some disclaimers. I took the pics, bought the materials, and write the blog posts. But my marvellous husband designed, planted and maintains the pond, and it was built by Simon, a fabulous gardener who I would recommend to you if he were taking on new business at fromegardendiy.com.

Having said that, and enjoying the reflected glory that’s as sparkly as the sunshine reflecting from the pond, here’s how “we” did it, and why you should build (or better yet, persuade / pay someone else to build) a raised wildlife pond.

The damselflies, birds, bees and bats will thank you.

If you’re considering a similar project…

Choose what your pond is for. We wanted a pond that primarily looked pretty, that we could sit beside, that also benefits wildlife. Raised ponds do not make the best wildlife ponds, but they attract birds and insects, and they display water lilies beautifully.

When it came to deciding about including a fountain and adding lights, we made some choices primarily for looks, knowing they’re not the greatest choices for wildlife. But we wanted the pond to be ornamental. (We have water just for wildlife in other parts of the garden.)

Wildlife will appreciate it if your pond has lots of shrubbery nearby. The birds like to shelter in this greenery, and then nip into the pond for a splash. The damselflies are very welcome visitors.

Dig deep! Our pond is about 65cm deep at its deepest spot, which is deep enough for some wildlife to over winter. With a pond raised by 45cm, that means digging a hole about 20cm (8 in) deep.

Make layers. We used some leftover breeze blocks from another project to make two of the shelves, and offcuts from the wooden sleepers to make the third. Even in a small pond it’s good to have different depths in the pond to suit a range of different plants and creatures. A pond that’s more than 60cm deep is unlikely to totally freeze, which gives wildlife a chance in the winter.

Make space for a little bistro set by the pond if you can. It’s a nice spot for an alfresco lunch in spring.

It might take a while for the pond to ‘settle.’ For a while the water in our pond was cloudy, then it was very weedy for a bit, and then it was quite green. Snails will help to eat the greenery, and with the right balance of plants and a bit of time the pond became crystal clear.

Our pond has an overflow channel so that it drains when it rains. We upgraded from a simple drainage channel made out of pond liner to this plastic down-pipe.

The water is collected in an urn, which is used to refill the pond when it has lost water due to evaporation. We try not to put tapwater into the pond.

We’ve seen lots of insects, birds, dragonflies, damselflies, frogs and even a fox visit our little watering hole. At dusk, bats twirl above it. I would heartily recommend adding water to your garden if you can. It brings life to the place, and the place to life.

A solar-powered pump is a lovely finishing touch for a garden pond. As is often the way, we started with a basic model, and then upgraded to a more ‘fancy’ option including a battery to store the solar energy so we can we use the fountain when it’s not sunny. We have different ‘fountain heads’ for special occasions, but the one I like best is the gentle bubble.

I hope this inspires you to add water for wildlife into your garden. I think it’s well worth it.

Share and Enjoy!

Jen x