I turned an overgrown mess into a wildlife haven

Indexed: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]This week's project has got no business being anywhere near the top of my to-do list, but sometimes inspiration strikes and you've just got to go with it. So, this week I'm making a pond.

[00:00:17]Putting in a little wildlife pond has been something I've had at the back of my mind for quite a while. I've read all sorts of stuff about how even the smallest washing up bowlsized ponds can make a really big difference to the amount of wildlife and biodiversity in a garden. And I just couldn't really decide on where I wanted to put one. The flower bed down the side of my greenhouse was completely neglected and overgrown with weeds, but I thought it might be a nice tucked away spot for a little wildlife pond.

[00:01:08]I spent a solid 5 hours yesterday pulling out seven sacks worth of weeds from this flower bed and I am almost ready to get started. with the pond.

[00:01:20]Just got to move this rose bush and then I'm good to go.

[00:01:36]I'm not super precious about this rose because there's quite a lot of them in the garden already. But if I can avoid killing it, that would be great.

[00:02:08]Nothing is ever as straightforward as I think it's going to be. I completely forgot that this flower bed contains an undead sycamore tree stump and the roots have spread pretty far across it. I'm pretty sure that the sycamores we have in the UK are different to the ones in North America. I think the North American ones are maples and the ones we have here are just incredibly invasive and spread little helicopter seedlings absolutely everywhere.

[00:02:53]Maybe.

[00:03:31]Yes.

[00:03:40]Hey. Oh.

[00:04:09]I think I'm finally ready to start digging the actual pond. At this rate, it's not going to be very deep because I'm tired.

[00:06:05]That took a lot longer than I expected and I am absolutely filthy. But I've dug the pond, so tomorrow I can line it and landscape it a little bit and then fill it and maybe even get time to start putting some plants around it, which is the bit I'm most excited about.

[00:06:51]It's fancy city.

[00:07:52]Come on.

[00:07:55]Come on.

[00:08:11]My love of nature and the outdoors is still pretty new to me. 5 years ago, I was definitely an indoors person. But the more time I spend outside, out on walks, riding my bike, or working in the garden, the more effort I want to put into preserving and improving the countryside around me. From growing my own food and repurposing as much as possible to composting almost everything I can get my hands on, I'm getting pretty good at the small scale projects, but there's only so much I can do as a one person out in my garden. and knowing how to make a difference on a wider scale is trickier, which is why I've joined Planet Wild as a member and partnered with them for this week's ad.

[00:08:51]Planet Wild is a community-based nature protection organization, and every month their community of over 20,000 members funds a carefully selected reing project. It's like crowdfunding for nature. They document all their missions on their YouTube channel, which means being a member of Planet Wild feels like we get to be part of much bigger projects without needing to leave home.

[00:09:12]Social media is full of examples of environmental destruction, but it's not so great at showing us what we can do to actually try and fix it. Planet Wild don't just share the problems and stop there. They share solutions and spread hope that we can still protect nature.

[00:09:29]One of their most recent missions involved turning farmland back into wetland, restoring over seven hectares of European petland and securing long-term carbon storage. It stopped further decay of pete layers and cranes, beavers, and wolves have already returned to the area. If you want to be part of something bigger and join a community that makes a difference in nature, sign up to Planet Wild for whatever amount, big or small, feels right to you. And don't worry, you can cancel anytime. The first 100 people to sign up using my code Jude5 will get their first month for free. To claim your free month, scan the QR code or click the link in the video description.

[00:10:05]And if you'd like to see them in action first, you can check out their Petland mission link below.

[00:10:26]My goal was to make the pond with stuff I had lying around. So, instead of using a proper pond liner and the fleecy underlay stuff, I've got an old moving blanket and plenty of leftover heavyduty black plastic that I bought to wrap all the asbestos in a few weeks ago. And hopefully that'll work. Okay, I've got to put a bit of sand in to cushion the base.

[00:10:55]That's it. Spend ages digging a hole and then just fill it in with sand.

[00:11:16]Excellent practice for any bodies I might need to bury in the future.

[00:11:48]This is pearl. Probably going to be more difficult than I thought.

[00:12:14]The wildlife had better like this because it's taking quite a lot of effort.

[00:12:20]And I think I might be stuck now. Oh no.

[00:12:24]How do I get out? It's not even that deep.

[00:12:36]I think I'm going to fill it up with water before I do anything else in case Sven decides to get in it and ruins it because he does not know how to put his claws away.

[00:13:32]I'm going to put all the rocks in before I finish filling it up with water. And I have been saving rocks from around the property for the last couple of weeks.

[00:13:40]And I have managed to dig up loads.

[00:14:33]The weather will not stay the same for longer than 5 minutes. And I keep having to come into the greenhouse to take shelter.

[00:14:45]Close to nearly made it into the Monday turn to Keep forgetting how to make it before it's already gone.

[00:15:28]Even though the weather is pretty questionable and I think it's going to rain again in approximately 35 seconds, I am having way too much fun with this.

[00:15:38]Sometimes you just need a frivolous project. I should probably put the plants in at the back before I can't get around there to reach or I'll fall in the pond, which will be embarrassing.

[00:17:15]I'm really pleased with how this is looking so far. I don't really have any experience with ponds. We did have a small one when I was a kid, but it just had a couple of overgrown gold fish in it and nothing else. And eventually my parents gave the fish away and emptied it out, filled it with gravel, and put a bench there instead. So, I'm kind of making up as I go along, but it's looking okay. Uh, I want to cover up as much of the black plastic as I can, and then hopefully the plants will fill in and cover the rest. I'm almost out of big rocks, though. So, apart from dismantling a couple of walls, I think I'm going to use some logs to put in instead because I probably should leave the walls alone.

[00:19:09]if You're thinking, Jude, aren't you supposed to be renovating your house? I promise I haven't forgotten about the renovation. Some days I wish I could forget about it. And I will have a renovation update at some point in the next few weeks, but until then, I'm going to keep going with my garden projects because they're a lot less stressful. You are not the kind of wildlife I'm trying to attract with the pond.

[00:19:34]No, it's not all about you.

[00:19:43]I know.

[00:20:14]This project had the potential to be an excellent budget project. The construction of the pond itself only needed me to buy a bag of sand and I had everything else lying around. the rocks, the wood, the black plastic, the blanket underneath, the waters from the water butt. Uh, and then I went to a garden center and a plant fair and another garden center and I got a bit carried away. I'm sure it will look lovely when it's all planted up, but I definitely blew the budget. I've got a horrible feeling the water level is dropping in this pond.

[00:20:54]There is a chance that I'm going to get up tomorrow and it's going to be completely empty and I'm going to have to redo the whole thing, which will be a shame because I really enjoyed it the first time round and I don't think it'll be as fun the second time.

[00:21:38]I'm pleased to report that the pond has still got water in it. I left it for a couple of days because I wasn't feeling very well, but I am determined to finish the planting today.

[00:22:59]As ponds go, it's pretty small, but I'm really pleased with how it's turned out, and I'm looking forward to watching the local wildlife move in. All I really want is a toad, and that I'll be happy.

[00:23:12]This project has made me realize that it's definitely time to get rid of more of my lawn and do some actual intentional planting, but that's a job for another day.

[00:23:34]Don't forget to check out Planet Wild.

[00:23:36]See them in action with their Petland mission right