Ponds & Water Features in Wraysbury.

In some ways, yes — a pond dug into ground where groundwater already sits close to the surface tends to hold its level with less reliance on the pump topping it up in summer. The trade-off is that the excavation and the liner fitting both need managing around water finding its own way into the hole, and an empty or part-drained pond needs a build designed to resist liner lift from below rather than just water loss from above.

That depends entirely on the specific plot and lake, and we would check it properly before pricing anything. A feature that ties into an existing lake edge is a different undertaking from a self-contained garden pond, both technically and in terms of what RBWM and, in some cases, the Environment Agency would need to see. We tell you honestly at survey whether that is realistic for your garden or whether a separate, self-contained pond is the better route.

It comes up more here than on ground that was never worked for gravel. Material left over from the original extraction can include sharper stone close to the surface, which will puncture a liner laid straight onto it. We clear and dress the excavation properly with sand or underlay before the liner goes in, and check that layer as a matter of course rather than only where a problem shows itself.

Less than you might expect, on a naturally wet plot. Where groundwater keeps a pond topped up for a good part of the year, the pump and filtration are sized for circulation and water quality rather than fighting constant water loss, which is the opposite calculation to a pond on free-draining ground. We size the system to your finished water volume at survey rather than to a generic assumption either way.