At long last we have lined the hole in the garden that has there for nearly 18 months, completing the third and final pond in the Scott Garden. It still needs tucking in and a deck laid but the waters in and it looks good.
One of the main management principles at Ragley is encouraging wildlife, creating a diverse habitat which will encourage insects, birds and small mammals, helping to maintain a natural balance throughout the garden. Water is crucial for encouraging wildlife no matter how big or how deep.
There are many ways to create a pond in your garden in order to suit different budgets, but when we build our ponds we use a butyl liner. One cubic meter of water weighs about a ton and that’s a lot of weight on the liner when it’s full so first we have to put down a ten centimeter layer of sand, followed by a special underlay to prevent any stones or sharp object puncturing it from underneath. All you need to do after that is fill it with plants and watch the wildlife move in.
Pond dipping is a popular attraction for schools doing Mini-Beasts at Ragley Education and it’s incredible how many different creatures they find!
http://www.ragleyhall.com/schools.html
