A wildlife garden pond.

The brief:

The client wanted a pond rich in wildlife, with areas providing access with seating at the water's edge. It also needed to be big enough to sustain a balanced environment.

Site problems:

The new pond was to be in a sloping field, which is not a natural place to site a pond There was also the problem of overlooking houses.

Solutions:

Cut and fill was used to fit the pond into the existing landscape with the spoil graded in to the field levels. The lower slope was used as a seating area with a large bench so that the pond could be watched. The upper edge was planted with trees to help screen the overlooking houses.

A jetty was constructed to link the pond to the garden. The jetty provides a route through the reeds and over the water to watch the pond life. To protect fish from hard winters, a deep water area was constructed. The pond was planted with native plants, with more ornamental species as the pond linked into the traditional planting of the country garden.

Landscape work took 4 weeks.