Further down the page are some statistics about the pond, size, plants, fish and
equipment etc. just in case you're interested.
Most of the basics, liner, pump, filter etc.  were purchased from 'Aquajardin' in Fair Oak near Southampton, as were some of the fish and plants.
I found them extremely helpful, and the staff very knowledgeable.
Welcome to my Pond Page
Visitors since September 2003
I started building my pond in May 2003. I've wanted one for years but never really fancied coming out into the garden to find one of my children floating face down in it.
Now that some are grown up and left home and the youngest is old enough, this was my chance.
I've kept tropical and cold water fish in tanks over the years but a natural pond full of plants, fish and wildlife has to be the ultimate. What better, I thought, sitting by the pond side, beer in hand on a Summer's evening, and I was right.
Well worth all of the expense and hard work.

We were building a 'Granny Annexe' onto the back of the house so that Rosa's 92 year old Mother could come and live with us. The garden was a building site and had to be made 'Granny' safe.
Mum always loved watching the fish indoors, so it was as much for her as for me.
Sadly the old dear died in early June before the pond was complete, so we all worked even harder to get it finished before the funeral as a sort of memorial to her.
Most of the basics, liner, pump, filter etc.  were purchased from 'Aquajardin' in Fair Oak near Southampton, as were some of the fish and plants.
I found them extremely helpful, and the staff very knowledgeable.
Below are some pictures of my pond during construction and also the finished article. He's not in the pics but young son James did more than his fair share, digging and pushing the wheel barrow
It's still early days yet but in a few seasons it should mature.
In at the deep end !

Only another foot to go.
The biggest problem was getting rid of the soil that was dug out.
That's why it's semi raised !
A layer of soft sand ready for the underlay, the liner
and 3500 litres of water.
(About 800 imp. gallons in old money)
The finished article.

Well sort of, I'm not happy with the edging, any suggestions?

Lots of plants, there are fish in there somewhere,  40, a mixture of Goldfish, Shubunkins, Golden and Blue Orfe, Rudd, Green Tench and 2 Grass Carp.
There are also about a dozen Newts given to me by a friend when he cleared out his pond

The next job is to get rid of that wreck of a shed and build a patio.
A view from the other direction at night.
With the lights switched on I think it looks a real treat.

The filter is housed under the black decking bottom right of the picture.
A welcome visitor.

The pond is now full of wildlife.
Dragon and Damsel flies are regular visitors along with pond skaters.
There are also several dozen Ramshorn snails that I've spotted, some quite large, about the size of a 2p piece.

I never put them in there. Who did?
Another picture of our visitor.
We still get frogs from time to time, we don't see them very often but they can be heard croaking on a still night. No frog spawn as yet so I don't know if they are residents. I must say that the garden has far less slugs since having the pond
LINKS
Further down the page are some statistics about the pond, size, plants, fish and
equipment etc. just in case you're interested.
Statisics
Pond Size
8 feet x 12 feet x 2 feet deep at the shallow end and 3 feet deep the other.
That's 2.5 meters x 3.65 meters x 0.6 to 0.9 deep,  in new money.
Containing 800 imp. galls (3500 litres) of finest Southampton water.
I know because we measured it all in, so as to get an exact figure in case any form of chemical dosing is needed in the future.
That's a sad engineer's mind for you!!
Pump :- 'OASE' Aquamax 3500
Filter :- 'OASE' Filtoclear 11000
Liner :- 'MAXIPOOL' 0.8mm PVC
FISH(updated Summer 2006)
2 Common Goldfish
3 Orange/Tangerine Goldfish
4 Red & White Comet Goldfish
2 Bristol Shubunkins
3 Red Comet Goldfish
1 White Comet Goldfish
1 Gold Comet Goldfish
6 Golden Orfe
4 Blue Orfe
2 Grass Carp
2 Green Tench
6 Rudd
3 White/black spotted Shubunkins
3 Tiny baby fishies (from 2005)
4 Red and White Goldfish
Plus at least 6 small fry seen in one small area at night when the underwater lights were on. There are probably a lot more that I haven't seen yet.
PLANTS
The following is a list of plants that I have at one stage put into the pond, they may not all be in there now as some don't make it through the winter.
I replace them from time to time.
Floaters
Azolla Caroliniana (Fairy Moss)
Eichornia Crassipes (Water Hyacinth)
Nasturtium Officiinale (Water Cress)
Pistia Stratiotes (Water Lettuce)
Salvinia minima (Water Fern)
Stratiotes Alodes (Water Soldier)
Trapa Natans (Water Chestnut)

Oxygenators
Eleocharis Acicularis (Hair Grass)
Hippuris Vulgaris (Mares Tail)
Myriophyllum Brasiliemsis (Red Stemmed Parrot's Feather)
Myriophyllum Verticillatum (Water Milfoil)

Marginals
Aponogeton Distachyos (Water Hawthorn)
Caltha Palustris (Marsh Marigold - Kingcup)
Equiselum Japonicum (Barred Horsetail)
Houttuynia Cordata 'Chamaeleon'
Iris Pseudacorus (Yellow Water Iris)
Juncus Effusus Spiralis (Corkscrew Rush)
Lobelia Cinnabar (Red Lobelia)
Lysimachia Nummularia (Creeping Jenny)
Lysimachia Nummularia Aurea (Creeping Jenny [golden])
Lythrum Salicavia (Purple Loosestrife)
Mentha Aquatica (Water Mint)
Mimulus Guttatus (Monkey Flower)
Oenanthe, Fistulosa 'Flamingo' (Water Dropwort)
Orontium Aquaticum (Golden Club)
Pontederia Cordata Albu (White Pickeral Plant)
Preslia Cervina (Water Spearmit)
Sagittaria Sagittifolia (Arrowhead)
Schizostylus Coccinea (Mrs Hegarty) (Kaffir Lily)
Scirpus Zebrinus (Zebra Rush)
Sisyrinchium Bellum (Blue Satin Flower)
Sparganium Ramosum (Bur-reed)
Typha Laxmannii (Slender Reedmace)
Plus some other greenery given to me by friends that I have yet to identify

Lillies
Nymphaea Marliacea Chromatella (Yellow)
Nymphaea Escarboucle (Red)
Nymphaea Albatross (White)


Some more visitors, late night this time
3 years on and the pond is maturing nicely. Fish are growing and breeding. I'm a Daddy 4 times to date. 3 this year. I think there'll be a lot more next year if the erm 'activity' is anything to go by.
Here are some of the fish at feeding time
Here's a close up of that Water Lilly.
Ain't nature fantastic!!
Here's one of the latest flowers to bloom.

Kaffir Lily
Schizostylus Coccinea
'Mrs Hegarty'

I say again. "Ain't nature fantastic!!"