Like all construction methods, there are advantages and disadvantages to weigh up carefully. Local advice is useful because it's specific to your area - contact your county agricultural and horticultural college (details in the library) for information on soils in your area and advice on clay lined ponds.

Contact your local wildlife trust/countryside ranger service (again, ask at your library) for information. They are quite likely to have created wildlife ponds from puddled clay and will be able to show you them and give tips. You may be able to join volunteers in creating a pond, gaining valuable experience.

Advantages

• Low cost of materials - either your own clayey garden soil (free), or special puddle clay (cheap).
• Natural looking pond.
• An excuse for a party - invite your friends to bring their wellies to a puddling party.

Disadvantages

• High cost of transport of puddle clay - especially over long distances.
• Your site may not be suitable - see next section.
• Essential to keep the pond full to the brim so that the clay never dries out and cracks around the edge.
• A clay lining is thicker than a sheet liner, so you need a bigger hole, which takes longer and creates more spoil.
• Time consuming to puddle the clay by foot or machine.
• For large-scale works you need tracked machinery to run back and forth to squash out the air - potentially expensive. Puddle clay suppliers can advise on machinery required.

Comments

  1 james    27 Sep 2008 9.40.56