"Pip" wrote in message
...
Thanks to all replies - it has certainly given us some good starters to
go
from.

Nige & Co - what lovely pictures - The hole looked mighty deep (hard
work!),
but it all seems to be working and looks good in the 6 months you have
achieved it..... gives us something to go off. Good for you (& the
frogs)!

Okay - Next question.... when would be the best me to start it (fill it)?.
Is there any particular time of year that would be best to start a pond.
Nige seemed to have got good results starting in March.

I have a friend (on groovey 's advice) who has a pond who will give me a
bucket full of water plus whatever is in it, and I just wondered when
would
be best for the pond life to do this ?


When the ice and snow arrives, everything is going to shutdown in your pond
making it difficult to establish a balance between good and bad bacteria.
Plus digging is going to be fun when the ground is hard or really wet like
in
spring. Starting the pond in autumn/fall may be difficult as leaves in the
pond
may poison an immature environment (and a mature one if there are too many).
I started mine in summer and wished I had done it when it was cooler and I
didn't have so much evaporation.

Making the hole when the ground is wet means that when the ground dries
out you will have gaps around a preformed or concrete pond which is not
good.

Looking back on the above I see that it's not very helpful? Just try to
choose
a time when your local weather isn't too wet/cold/dry. Expect the project to
take 5 times longer than you budgeted and don't try to stock your pond too
soon.