Pond help

[WhyDoesItAlways]

We have recently bought a house which has a clearly once much loved but now neglected pond. It's a kidney shape with a liner and has a waterfall with pump and filter system. The electrics to the pump and filter don't look safe and it would be my preference to remove it. I want to keep the pond as a wildlife pond but don't know where to start.

The pond water is pretty murky and there is a layer of muck on the bottom but I have seen tadpoles and water boatmen in there today so there is obviously life thriving in there. So....

Do we need the pump/filter system with a wildlife pond?

Should we dredge the bottom or is the muck down there good for the wildlife (I don't want to upset anything currently living in there)

Can anyone recommend anywhere to get a grate to cover the pond that is submerged just under the water level as we have a 2 year old so want to make it safe?

What else do I need to know? I'm clueless!

You don't need the pump or filter, plants will do that for you.
I don't know about a cover but what I do know is that some covers make it more dangerous as they can trap an arm or whatever under it and be stuck.

What is the area of your pond?

You need to buy the biggest gauge rebar and staple it with 12" bar staples into the surrounding area ( assuming it's turf). It will bear an adult's weight, though that's not what it's for, and plants will grow through it, and it will look good.

Is the water clear? if it is leave 'the muck' for a while anyway, (when you do need to clear it leave it around the edges for a while to let the wildlife get back in, as you say it's full of life! You could go for solar powered fountain in one part of it, water lilies need still water though.

We removed those frightening electrical gadgets from a pond we had it feels much safer!

Sorry echt what's a rebar?

As far as the pond is concerned, don’t do anything until the Autumn, the wildlife are still in their natural cycle of eggs, tadpoles, young amphibians.
If your worried about safety cover the pond so you can remove it in the Autumn while you work and then put it back.
In the Autumn clear the pond of overgrown weed and built up silt from the bottom, we used a plastic bucket for this.
Leave the debris and silt on the side of the pond for about 48 hours so that any wild life can slither back in. It’s best to let the rain refill the pond, but you can use hose water. It might take a week or so to clear.
When stocking the pond with plants be careful not to get invasive ones. Garden centres don’t start selling water plants until after Easter, they tend to die off in the winter.

Here are some images of rebar which you can buy easily at builders' merchants. You can buy different sizes ( area) and thickness of the bars. It's not expense and very strong.

You would need to consider the surface are of your pond.

I've included an image of rebar stakes.

Thank you, this is really helpful. We've had a good old look in there today and there are 20 plus frogs of varying sizes and plenty of tadpoles too so I'm very keen to keep a good home for them.

Thank you for the tip about waiting for autumn, I really don't want to upset what is already there.

We'll be getting some rebar to out over the top for the short term and then FIL has said he has the tools to make us a nice grate to fit the shape of the pond.