Re-design of an existing pond, to make it more wildlife friendly.
From our customer...
Having decided to rebuild our pond to be more suitable for wildlife, we asked Oliver for his advice and explained the features we would like. We were very impressed with the care he took to preserve all the plants, newts and frogs that we already had while he rebuilt the pond. Oliver used his expertise and knowledge to create what we wanted but that work best for the wildlife we wanted to encourage, and it is already attracting many more birds and dragonflies than before. The pond is a joy to us every day, and we would highly recommend Oliver and Feature Ponds to anyone.
Liz and Roger Powell. Crowle
After the consultation and the estimate had been accepted, Oli got to work. The first job was to empty the pond, and strip it down to see what was there. We are always careful to preserve the wildlife and plants that we remove.
Once the pond was cleared, Oli set to work re-shaping the area to provide a more wildlife friendly approach into the pond.
The area was levelled and flattened to prepare it for the liner and underlay.
If you are considering a project like this, one thing to consider is that there is normally some waste soil that will need removing, so a skip may be needed if you do not have space to accommodate this in your garden.
When the ground was ready, the edging, underlay and liner went in. In this case we also needed to construct a cascade into the pond, so the relevant equipment for this was installed, and the rocks positioned to make a suitable fall.
Once it was all completed we added plants and lights to finish the pond.
Refurbishment of 19th Century Dew Pond.....
This pond was an area in a garden that filled up slightly over the winter months, and the owners wanted to make it more of a proper feature of the garden.
There was a lot of soil and silt to remove from this one, so we used machinery to make the job more efficient, before the levelling and shaping.
We fitted a drainage pipe below the liner to prevent the natural water build up from making the liner "hippo".
Once the edging system was in place, we got the underlay and liner down.
The customer wanted this pond to be natural so there are no pumps or filters.
We did return at a later date to fit two water features, one at each end of the pond. We also provided the plants.
From our customer.....
We purchased our current property during the early part of 2021 and inherited a dew pond that had sadly fallen into a state of dilapidation over a period of many years.
We were conscious of the heritage of the pond and wanted to recreate the original profile of the area as faithfully as possible.
We were introduced to Oli through a friend and neighbour who had used Feature Ponds for the initial installation and ongoing routine maintenance.
From our initial discussions through to completion Oli was knowledgeable, approachable and most importantly receptive to our desire to respect the history of the area.
There were several engineering challenges to overcome including the diversion of groundwater from several incoming Victorian aquifers, the economic relocation of possibly a century of silt build up and ensuring that the proposed finished water levels accommodated a planned run off , ensuring the adjoining gardens were not compromised by a potential for flooding.
All the above works were thought out, explained to us and executed without us incurring any additional cost to our original budget figure.
We are sure that the finished scheme has bought the pond back to life and in doing so will provide a sustainable natural habitat for birds and pond life alike for many years to come as well as for our own enjoyment and pleasure for both us and generations to come.
We certainly would whole heartedly recommend Feature Ponds to all.
Nigel & Jean, Stoulton, Worcestershire