Make your own mini pond
Recycle a barrel, bath or pot to make a water feature
An old tin bath, sink, baby bath, large pot or half barrel can be recycled to introduce a delightful water feature to your garden, however small a space you have. If you don't have one you can recycle, galvanised tin baths are available from www.mowermagic.co.uk or try on eBay.
You will need
A container, bricks, planting baskets, aquatic compost, large stones, aquatic plants (pygmy water lilies), oxygenating plants (anacharis, milfoil), floating plants (water hyacinth, water lettuce, duckweed) and tall accent plants (lobelia, horsetail, reeds, rushes).
Seal any holes in your old container with silicon. Make columns of bricks tall enough to raise the plants to the final water level.
Put a layer of aquatic compost in the baskets then plant your aquatics, two or three plants per basket. Water them so the compost settles, then cover the compost with stones to keep it in.
Fill your container two-thirds full with water - if possible, with rainwater from your water butt.
Lower the baskets into the water, standing them on the bricks. Add a couple of oxygenating plants to aerate the pond and limit algal growth.
Top up the water to 2cm-3cm below the container rim.
Note: Keep small children and pets away from all garden ponds.
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