What you'll need to make your wildlife-friendly rain-fed pond;

• A rainwater diverter or flexible pipe to carry the water from your downpipe
• A large sheet of pond liner
• Some sand or underlay to protect the liner on stony soil
• Gabions and large stones or broken paving slabs
• Gravel or cobbles
• A mix of pond and marginal plants

1. Dig a hole and connect to a downpipe - Dig a hole (at least 30cm/1ft deep and 90cm/3ft diameter) for your pond several meters* out from a garden shed or building. Connect it to the downpipe with a piece of pipe. Make sure there is a slight fall on the pipe. Here we run the pipe under a garden deck. *If siting your rain garden closer than 5m (16ft) to your house, seek advice from a Geotechnical Adviser or Registered Ground Engineering Professional to avoid any damage to foundations by infiltrating water. 
2. Safeguard from punctures - On stony ground line the hole and any depression where the liner will extend to with sand to safeguard from punctures.
3. Fit the pond liner - Lay out the liner, leaving a bit of slack for when it is filled with water.
4. Disguise the outlet pipe - We used an old industrial piece of piping and added some gabions filled with old concrete paving slabs which will create hiding spaces for amphibians.
5. Cover up the liner - Hide the liner with gravel or pebbles. You can tuck any loose edges into the soil with a spade. A long shallow slope where water levels can rise and fall is ideal for wildlife
6. Plant the edges of your pond - Finish off by planting the edges with plants that cope with an occasional flooding as this area will absorb excess rainwater in the event of a rainstorm. Mulch with more gravel.
7. Give wildlife a helping hand - Place cobbles or stones to offer birds and hedgehogs easy access for a drink. Let the pond naturally fill with rainwater.
8. Job done! Sit back and enjoy