Wildlife Friendly Pond
I’d longed for a pond the garden at my own home, having left the pond I built myself at our last property. I’ve always loved the sound of running water and the flow of water through the streams of the Peak District. I knew I wanted moving water, a wildlife friendly feature and something to offer interest year-round. The Prairie borders close to the glazed rear of our home was due a revamp and I decided to design a water feature I could wrap with naturalistic style planting.
Having worked with Harry at WildWater Ponds on several of our design projects, I knew he would be the ideal person to take on the task of installing the feature. I designed a simple 3 tier water feature, with pools cascading water across the sloping area close to the house. Harry took my brief of a wildlife friendly feature, reminiscent of a Derbyshire stream and came up with a plan to install an entirely natural series of pools connected by a stream.
Installation started in December 2024, once I had cleared all of the existing planting from the area, saving the best for reuse. The team at WildWater only took a couple of weeks to install the impressive structure to support fully stone lined pool, pond and stream. Harry also planted the pond, once finished with a selection of native aquatic plants and included weathered tree branches to give perching spots for wildlife and feature rocks in the planting beds.
I then planted around the feature with a naturalistic style of planting, including perennials and ornamental grasses to provide a succession of colour, texture and interest throughout the year, all visible from the house. The wildlife pool, pond and stream are just 9 months old and are already teaming with wildlife. We’ve had dragonflies emerge from the pond planting, Water Boatmen, Pond Skimmers and Diving Beetles to name just a few. There’s always something happening in the feature and it has settled into the surrounding planting well. I’m looking forward to the pond maturing and the wildlife visiting over the coming years.
If you are interested in having a Wildlife Friendly water feature or pond installed in your garden, get in touch with Bel and check out more about Garden Design and Planting Design.
Before Transformation
Before Transformation
Before Transformation