Disused swimming pool to natural pond

Jill and Simon Baker at Cowards Lake Farm, near Yelverton had for many years ignored the disused concrete swimming pool at the end of their garden, allowing a large hedge and undergrowth to go wild and shield it from the view of the house.  Having seen and cut out the advert that Ellis Taylor of Dartmoor Ponds places in Moor & Tavy Links magazine - they thought it was time to give him a call.

Ellis is no stranger to garden ponds and although he was once a financial consultant and living the commuters life in Leamington Spa, he decided to remove himself from the ties of his mortgage and move to sunny Devon to go back to what he loves, making and creating fabulous ponds!  Designing ponds was something he had been doing in his own properties and those of friends and family ever since he was a young boy.

With the use of many tonnes of earth and sand and the largest sheet of pond liner he has ever used, Ellis worked for over a month to transform the Baker’s old pool into what is now a haven for all kinds of wildlife.  Toads, butterflies, Mayflies, Dragonflies, fish and many more can now be seen enjoying this relatively ‘young’ pond.  Beside the pond runs a small stream from which Ellis has diverted a small pipeline of water which comes into the pond via a small waterfall feature and out again across the far side, ensuring a continuous cycle of fresh water.

The Baker’s are slowly adding more and more plants both around the pond and within it, which will give the pond a well established mature feel in just a few years time.