Hi all

I warn in advance that this is a rather long post.

We have quite a nice pond in the garden, which holds two enormous ghost koi
(all inherited from previous owner of the house). However, we also have an
18 month old highly active and inquisitive baby. So we have decided that
the pond will have to go.

It's a kidney shaped pond (something like 2m long by 1.5m wide at the widest
point or perhaps a shade bigger) with nice low growing conifers (all sorts
of different ones) and heathers all around it, and it is just to one side of
the patio. It gets good sun most of the day.

I have a few questions about what we do now.

Firstly, we need to get rid of the fish. We've tried to put them in Loot,
but the only two interested parties never got back to us They are very,
very large and quite old (estimated at least 7-8 years), so there isn't much
interest. Nevertheless, there is a relatively local Koi centre (we are in
Herts), and I'm sure they'll take them off us.

So assuming we get rid of the fish, we are left with a soft lined pond with
a couple of plants (easy to remove) and the whole pond is surrounded by nice
grey bricks (approx 4 high - and they go below the waterline). I think we
may keep the bricks, as they would make a nice outline for a bed.

Now, what do we fill it with? The pond is a couple of feet deep, and I
don't know if we need to fill the whole lot with soil, or whether it will be
ok to put a bit of rubble in the bottom to reduce the volume of soil needed?

Also, which kind of soil do we need. Do we just get "standard" soil from a
nursery, or do we mix it with compost (or something else altogether)?

As the surrounding beds are heathers and conifers, I thought the nicest
thing to complement with would be a rockery. If we go with this idea, do we
actually need to include more rubble/pebbles/stones in the soil, or will it
be ok to just place the odd nice looking rock on the top? As the bed will
be "contained" within the old outline of the pond, will there be an issue
with drainage? (We will of course take up the old pond liner.)

The alternative would be to remove all the bricks as well as the liner to
make it all flush with the surrounding beds. If we do this, do we fill it
in the same way? The soil in the garden in general is rather heavy and
clay-ey and full of stones and rocks. A nightmare to dig!

Lastly, is there a "right" and a "wrong" time to do this. As we won't really
be digging in existing soil, it won't make a difference if the soil around
is rather cold or frozen, but is it best to leave it until it gets warmer?

I apologise for the long post, and hope someone will be able to give me a
few pointers!!

Thanks for your help

Pia