Building a Pond

Any serious wildlife gardener has to have a pond.  And anyway, where better to sit and take stock, look at the view, watch the dragonflies, and have a beer?

Our plot slopes, so we wanted to site the pond near the top of the hill, where the mountain views are least obscured.  When the house was built, a large drainage ditch was dug across the plot to take water away from the construction site.  As this naturally fills with water in wet weather, and is an already partially dug hole, it seemed like the obvious place to choose.

Although we are on very heavy clay, we decided to line the pond with an artificial liner, anyway.  We weren't quite sure how long a traditional clay-lined pond would last with the temperatures in the 30s and low 40s and no rain to keep the clay moist and water resistant!

The drainage ditch running east-west across the plot.