What to do with filled in ponds

[Princessmardybum]

Hi, we have 2 large ponds in our front garden which we inherited when we bought the house. For many reasons (including young children) we would prefer to fill them in but don’t know what to put there instead to stop them looking like we’ve just filled ponds in! They have a nice flower border around the edge with some lovely plants in which I would hate to lose. Our house is an old cottage so would love something traditional/old English cottage garden type thing if possible. Has anyone any ideas please? Thankyou!

We put a tree in the middle and covered in gravel to look like a feature. Also dealt with the tendency of the lower ground to flood

We took our pond out and I really regret it now, I wish I’d investigated ways of making it safe instead.

We now have a lot of frogs missing their home and it was really wildlife friendly. The small kids will grow up and learn to avoid the pond and you can put heavy duty grid over it to stop accidents. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182718138114?var=690033553056&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338365712&toolid=20006&customid=EB36058691

To answer you question we just turned it into a flower bed with a couple of acers in it for some height....

As a mid-ground had you though of filling in with pond/bog plants that are bushy and fast growing like Irises but keep them in pond containers so you could lift them out easily when the kids are older? I agree with a pp we have a lovely wildlife pond with frogs that our kids love and have never fallen in, but you can add a grid that sits under the water so isn't unsightly for safety. Otherwise if it has to go you could re-fill with anything really if you're going to take the pond liner away, more of the same cottage garden plants if they're doing well there, or a pretty crabapple tree or similar.

Have you looked at the wildlife content and worked out a plan for displaced frogs, newts, toads?

You could convert it to a bog area and include a couple of mini ponds (washing up bowl size) as a concession to frogs etc.

There's no reason why it should look like an infilled pond if you remove all traces - edging stones and liner. If you are literally infilling it, bog garden will be your only real option as drainage will be impeded.

I like Ochreblue's idea.

Thank you for the suggestions. Maybe the “bog” plan is the way to go to keep our options open...

If you have great crested newts, then you will have to leave the pond alone, as they are a protected species.