Dig this winter, ready for spring
Wildlife pond planner
How do you make a wildlife pond? Keep it mostly shallow, with a gently sloping beach, filled with rainwater, and without fish. The Freshwater Habitats Trust says the deepest part need be no more than 25–30 cm unless you keep fish. Enter your space for a checklist you can print.
Your plan
Your wildlife pond plan
2.5 × 1.5 m, 30 cm deep
Rainwater, no fish, a beach, and mostly shallow water
Great Britain · part shade · about 2.95 m² (31.7 sq ft) of water · a small pond, so vigorous plants are left out
Liner: about 3.40 × 2.40 m (11 ft 2 in × 7 ft 10 in) by the FHT rule, length + 2 depths + 30 cm. Liner calculator
Build checklist
- Part shade is a good spot: somewhere partly shaded but with plenty of sunlight during the day. FHT
- Note trees and shrubs that will drop leaves in: a few leaves feed caddis flies, but a thick layer on the bottom harms the water. FHT
- Shallow is good: unless you keep fish, the deepest part need be no more than 25–30 cm (1 ft), which keeps the whole pond lit and well oxygenated. FHT
- Make lots of shallow water, with wide shallow margins and gently sloping edges: most pond animals live in water only a few centimetres deep. FHT
- Give at least one side a long, shallow slope with a gravel, mud or flat-stone beach, so birds and hedgehogs can drink and frogs can climb out. RHS
- Check the rim is level with a spirit level on a long plank, or liner will show on the low side. FHT
- Clear sharp stones, then cushion the hole with sand and underlay before laying the liner. FHT
- Set up water butts a couple of months before you dig, and fill the pond with rainwater: tap water is usually high in nutrients that feed algae. FHT; RHS
- Leave out fish: they eat frogspawn, tadpoles and other pond life. RHS; FHT
- A wildlife pond doesn't need a filter. If you want a fountain, choose a pump with a wildlife protection guard so tadpoles aren't sucked in. RHS
- Autumn and winter are ideal for digging a new pond; plant up from mid-spring to early summer, once the water warms. RHS
- You don't have to plant: plants arrive on their own in time. If you do, use native species, two or three plants per square metre of margin. FHT
- Don't move frogspawn, water or mud from another pond: it can bring in diseases and invasive species. RHS
Plants to consider (Great Britain natives)
About 3–4 plants if you plant half the pond as margin, at two or three per square metre (FHT). Depths are water over the crown.
Damp edge and bog
- Purple loosestrife Lythrum salicaria
- Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria
- Ragged robin Silene flos-cuculi
Shallows and margins
- Marsh marigold Caltha palustris · 0–5 cm
- Brooklime Veronica beccabunga · 0–10 cm
- Water forget-me-not Myosotis scorpioides · 0–10 cm
- Arrowhead Sagittaria sagittifolia · 0–20 cm
- Flowering rush Butomus umbellatus · 0–25 cm
- Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata · 0–25 cm
- Lesser spearwort Ranunculus flammula · 15–22 cm
- Greater spearwort Ranunculus lingua · 15–25 cm
- Water plantain Alisma plantago-aquatica · 0–30 cm
Free-floating
- Frogbit Hydrocharis morsus-ranae
Underwater oxygenators
- Rigid hornwort Ceratophyllum demersum
Who may arrive, season by season
Pond skaters and diving beetles can arrive within a few days or weeks of filling a new pond; damselflies and amphibians could be there within the first year. (RHS). Timings are for Britain.
Spring March to May
- Frogspawn, laid from January onwards (sometimes before Christmas), first in the west and south-west. FHT
- Newts and common toads lay eggs from early spring; newts wrap each egg in a leaf. FHT
- On warm days backswimmers, water beetles, pond skaters and lesser water boatmen fly in. FHT
- Hoverflies visit; their rat-tailed larvae live in the water. FHT
Summer June to August
- Damselflies emerge (large red damselfly first, then the blues), then dragonflies. FHT
- Frog tadpoles become froglets and leave the pond. FHT
- Swallows and house martins hunt insects over the water; pipistrelle bats may hunt over larger ponds. RHS; FHT
- Caddisflies swarm over the water at dusk. FHT
Autumn September to November
- Smaller animals have finished laying eggs; tiny larvae get ready for winter. FHT
- Some frog and newt tadpoles stay in the pond over winter. FHT
Winter December to February
- Mayfly, dragonfly and water beetle larvae live on under the ice. FHT
- Some frogs, and sometimes newts, hibernate in the water. FHT
How to use the planner
Measure the space you have and decide how deep the deepest part will be; the planner treats the outline as an oval inside your length and width. It then builds a checklist from the Freshwater Habitats Trust and RHS advice, sizes the liner by the Trust's rule, and lists plants native to your region from our plant guide, leaving out vigorous ones for small ponds and sun lovers for shady spots.
- Great Britain: plants native to Great Britain, none of them on Great Britain's invasive-species lists.
- Mainland Europe or Ireland: the same list, but native ranges differ, so check them against your own country's flora.
- North America: only plants the USDA lists as native, leaving out European natives that are invasive there, such as purple loosestrife and flowering rush.
Autumn and winter are ideal for digging, and rain over the winter fills a new pond with the nutrient-poor water wildlife likes. Plant from mid-spring.
Sources
- Freshwater Habitats Trust, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and World of Water, Creating Garden Ponds for Wildlife (2023): deepest areas no more than 25–30 cm unless keeping fish; lots of shallow water with gently sloping edges; partial shade with plenty of sun; rainwater; fish eat frog and newt tadpoles; native plants, two or three per square metre; the liner rule; the pond calendar of wildlife by season.
- RHS, Wildlife ponds: 20–60 cm deep, at least one long shallow slope with a beach; part in full sun; rainwater; no fish; no filter; don't move spawn, water or sediment between ponds; autumn and winter ideal for digging; plant from mid-spring to early summer; pond skaters within days or weeks, damselflies and amphibians within a year.
- National Wildlife Federation, Backyard pond: some direct sun but not full sun at all times, a beach or ledge, plenty of native plants, a de-chlorinator for chlorinated water.
- Native status: each plant's RHS page (see the plant depth guide) for Great Britain, and the USDA NRCS PLANTS Database for North America, checked 2 November 2026.
- Invasive species: USDA APHIS Federal Noxious Weed List (7 CFR 360.200); Minnesota DNR; USDA National Invasive Species Information Center (state lists differ); European Commission, Invasive alien species (the Union list, last updated by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1422 from 7 August 2025).
The wildlife timings are for Britain. The National Wildlife Federation's advice to add a bucket of water from a natural pond is left out, because the RHS warns that moving water between ponds can spread diseases and invasive species.
Wildlife pond questions
When is the best time to build a wildlife pond?
Autumn and winter, says the RHS, so winter rain can fill it. Plant it up from mid-spring to early summer, once the water has warmed.
How deep should a wildlife pond be?
Mostly very shallow. The Freshwater Habitats Trust says the deepest part need be no more than 25–30 cm (1 ft) unless you keep fish; the RHS suggests depths varying between 20 and 60 cm.
Can I fill a wildlife pond with tap water?
Rainwater is better: tap water is usually high in nutrients that feed algae. Collect it in water butts or let the pond fill with rain; the RHS calls tap water a last resort.
Do I need to add plants?
No: plants arrive on their own in time. If you do plant, choose native species, about two or three plants per square metre.