Frequently Asked Questions

Garden ponds do not usually require planning permission. However, it is worth checking this with your local authority.

If you are planning a large pond or pond complex, or are working on a public site, read our advice sheet on planning permission for ponds.

Unfortunately the answer is usually ‘no’. National funding tends to be limited to farmland, where pond creation can sometimes be funded through agricultural schemes, or public spaces. However, it may be worth checking with your local council, in case there are any grants that are specific to your area.

Shallow ponds are great for wildlife. Unless you are keeping fish, the deepest areas need to be no more than 25-30 cm (1 foot) deep.

The best wildlife ponds have very gently shelving natural edges, fringed by grasses, creating perfect homes for amphibians, and for invertebrates like dragonflies and water beetles.

To find out more, read Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife, which we’ve produced with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.

The short answer is: it doesn’t really matter.

For wildlife, the pond shape is less important than the depth (you need lots of shallow water), how clean the water is, and what the edges are like.

So, you can make a pond that is ‘natural or ‘formal’ – it just depends on what looks good in your garden.

Most garden ponds are created using a flexible liner, made from synthetic rubber polymers (eg butyl, EPDM) or plastic (eg PVC). Other options are to build a base from clay or concrete, although this is more expensive and requires professional installation. Occasionally, garden ponds can be created without having a liner at all, although it is rare for gardens to have water-holding soil.

There are pros and cons to whichever type of liner you choose.

To find out more, read Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife, which we’ve produced with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.

Clean water is essential for making great wildlife ponds.

Rainwater is usually best as tap water often has high levels of polluting nitrogen and phosphorus. These nutrients will encourage the growth of algae and duckweeds which compete with and smother water plants.

Set up water butts to collect water from the roof of your house, a garage or an outbuilding a couple of months before you dig your pond. They should then be ready to fill it up once it is lined. You can also use this water to top up your pond during the drier summer months. Doing this means you won’t have to reach for the hose.

As a charity with limited resources, Freshwater Habitats Trust is unable to provide site visits or advise on individual ponds.

However, we offer a wealth of resources to guide you:

• Advice on creating a garden pond, including our popular Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife booklet, which we’ve developed with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.
• Detailed advice for professionals on creating and managing countryside ponds.
• The Pond Book – the most comprehensive guide available on the creation and management of ponds is available to buy on our website.

• A pea-soup coloured pond is caused by tiny green planktonic algae floating in the water. This problem, together with problems with filamentous algae (often called Blanket Weed or Cott) and small floating-leaved species like Duckweed and Water Fern, all have the same root cause – too many nutrients in the water – especially nitrate and phosphate.
• These problem plants grow best where nutrient levels are high they can grow very rapidly. Common sources of high nutrients in garden ponds are:
  • Tap water
  • Soil or turf added to the pond bottom
  • Bare soil next to the pond, which can be washed in by rain
  • Fish: food and faeces add pollutants. In addition, fish stir-up bottom sediments, releasing them into the water. Fish also eat zooplankton, the tiny water fleas that would otherwise eat algae, clearing the water.

For more advice, check out our factsheet on algae and duckweed.

To find out more, read Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife, which we’ve produced with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.

There are many reasons for de-silting ponds: landscape, recreation, amenity, economic and wildlife conservation. Our advice is for dredging ponds where the main aim is to enhance the pond to protect its wildlife. In this situation, the first question is: ‘how will dredging help wildlife?’ The second is ‘might dredging cause damage to existing pond communities?’

For more detailed information to help you make the right decision, download our fact sheet on silted up ponds and dredging.

If your pond is drying out it can look like a disaster for wildlife. But for many ponds, drying up from time to time is perfectly natural and harmless or beneficial. Many freshwater plants and animals are adapted to survive (and, in some cases, thrive) in habitats that periodically dry out. That means a drought could be good news for some species in your pond and bad news for others.

But the problem is, as we continue to dangerously heat up the planet, is that drying up of many smaller and shallower ponds is going to become more common We simply don’t know what the effect of this will be.

It may be the best option to leave your pond to dry out. Alternatively, you may choose to top it up with rainwater from your water butt. Think carefully before topping up with tap water as this will introduce pollutants to your pond, which could cause more damage that the drying out.

For more detailed information, download our fact sheet on what to do if your pond is drying out.

Many people understandably worry about wildlife when their garden pond freezes over. In fact, most freshwater plants and animals found in Britain are well-adapted to cold snaps so it is often not necessary to intervene.

To help the creatures that live in and around your pond survive the cold weather it is important to have a range of wildlife-friendly areas in your garden, that will provide them with shelter in the water and on land. Areas of longer grass, overgrown corners or piles of wood or stones, can provide a vital refuge for many creatures.

To find out more, download our factsheet on helping pond wildlife over winter.

If water levels are falling in your pond, you may have a leak.

If your pond has pumps or filters, check the seals and pipework first for leaks. Fountains or cascades are also likely culprits, often because overspray means that water is being lost from the pond’s circulation system.

To locate a leak, wait until the falling water level stabilises. It will ultimately stop just below the level of the leak – like a bath full of water standing at the over-flow level. An exception is during periods of hot weather, when evaporation may cause pond levels to drop below the leak point. Once you’ve narrowed the search down to the area just above the water line, look carefully around the pond edge. You may need to remove vegetation, or clean areas to see the liner surface more clearly.

You can buy materials for resealing most PVC and Butyl liners.

For more information on locating leaks and repairing pond liners, read our fact sheet on falling water levels and leaks.