Blog: Part of the reason I’ve been so quiet recently!
It’s time for the grand reveal… I’ve been building a raised pond and now it’s finished! It’s been quite a journey and one that is almost wholly the work of landscaper extraordinaire Garry McCabe of Gaia Gardeners.
Garry always tries to work with recycled or renewable materials. It was he who built my larch sleeper raised beds in the spring. We got on so well and had very similar ideas that when I decided to spend the last of my redundancy money on the garden, Gary and his partner Wendy were the only people to call. Here’s how I stocked the pond for wildlife.
Building a raised pond – All change and proper landscaping
I knew I wanted a small summerhouse* (more on that in a later blog), but the only problem was where to put it. The only place was on top of the pond… this was going to be a big job. The old pond was solid concrete and far too shallow. It had also become very tricky for me to clean out. Here’s more information on creating a wildlife pond, small ponds for city gardens and solving pond problems.
Garry and I dreamed up a raised pond, paisley-shaped, running along the wall of the seating area. Our only criterion? Use recycled materials as much as possible. Now, I realise this will not be to everyone’s taste. Bad taste is a lot better than no taste at all, a little like breath!
Let your creativity go wild
We used everything we could get our hands on. This is what went into the pond’s walls:
- Stone from retaining walls
- Old bricks from my mam’s house and my garden
- Chicken wire
- A slab of slate that had been in the garden ever since I moved in
- Rocks, fossils (nothing rare) and pebbles collected over the years by the kids
- Shells
- Broken ceramic pots
- Plates and bowls
- Slates
- Old roof tiles
Building a raised pond – Bits we needed to buy
We needed to buy some breezeblocks for the unseen back bit, sand, concrete, extra chicken wire to reinforce the walls, plus tile adhesive. Luckily for me, I seem to have a colour preference – everything was in shades of blue, green and white.
A word of caution – this raised pond was an experimental piece for both me and Garry. It took a lot longer than we thought, with the concrete having to dry out before adding another layer. He didn’t want it to collapse under the weight of the water. With that in mind, he built up the interior and reinforced it with chicken wire. When he was satisfied it would hold, then the fun started! Garry and Wendy created the sides and acid-washed the exterior to make the colours pop.
Lining the pond and sealing the top
Then, they added some old carpet into the bottom – it had been excavated a bit. A thick pond underlay and then an extra-thick liner was added and then roughly trimmed. I finished off the top. Cut the pond liner carefully halfway over the top and seal the edges with domes of concrete. Add your chosen embellishments with a good dollop of tile adhesive. Once set, clean off any loose mortar. For a final touch (and one I have still to do), seal the exterior with PVA sealant.
I kept the water lily and an offset from the ribbon grass that were in the original pond in buckets. Now they’re back in the new pond, along with a bale of barley straw to keep the water fresh. At least with all the wet weather, the pond has filled up naturally with rainwater.
*I bought the 6’x4′ summerhouse in a sale from Forest Garden. It used Protek Black stain – the inside is coloured in Lavender and Saffron! The film over the windows comes off once you’ve completed the staining.
Building a raised pond out of recycled materials updated 2025
