Let's dig a large hole...

Here is where it all began, with a patch of land full of weeds and stones near the bottom of my garden. I'd looked into the options of a pond mould or a liner and decided that I preferred the flexibility of a liner.



At this point I will admit to making a pond many years ago out of a cast iron bath, sunk to ground level and lined with PVC. Strangely, this old, rather unattractive pond has been a mecca to frogs and I really wanted to give them a big new home.

Next came the hole. Easier said than done. No matter how much you read about it, it really isn't easy and the bigger the pond the harder it is to get level.



Armed with spades and a very good friend, this was the result. The hole ended up at 85 cm deep with two shelves and a lot of spoil! The next stage was to line it with newspaper and then large sheets of plastic before placing the liner and filling it with water.


It was only at this point that I realised just how big the pond actually was. Now that, I remembered thinking, is a proper pond.

Before I get shouted at here, there was very little choice but to fill it with tap water. Even though it's not ideal, the water will settle and balance out in time.

Lastly, the edges needed tucking in. Because of the size of the pond, I decided to leave a good sized bank to make sure everything stayed in place.

A large terracotta pot was placed in the bottom to give frogs somewhere to shelter in the winter and then Pondy was left to settle for a day or two.

The next job was to make him look pretty.