Subsoil

sharon.calver47

I want to build a wildlife pond like the one Joel Ashton shows in his YouTube videos. He stipulates subsoil should be used as the substrate for planting wild flowers around the edges and in the pond itself. Although there are many outlets for topsoil, there are very few that will supply subsoil. The subsoil must have a low nutrient level and only have 2% organic matter. Joel has supplied me with three suppliers , but they are all far from me in the south of England. I know that we all have subsoil under our topsoil, but it looks as if Joel uses quite a lot when he builds the pond and I don't think I could dig out that amount in a reasonable amount of time.I know that I can use gravel and stones as well, but still need quite a lot of subsoil on top of the stones. Does anyone know of a supplier in the East of England?

philippasmith2

It would help others to advise you if you were able to post a photo of the proposed site of your new pond along with rough dimensions and planned depth.
If you are sinking your pond into the ground, you will presumably already have some sort of soil there for the surrounding planting which you could either make do with or improve ?  Do you want to create a Bog garden ?
As for the soil in the base of the pond itself, aquatic soil which you can purchase from specialist suppliers will do.  If you plan to purchase pond plants, you can either plant directly or plant in pots ( again with aquatic soil ).  
You will find that birds and wind currents will drop detritus into your pond over time and this will build up at the bottom of your pond and help provide a natural environment.
I haven't heard of Joel Ashton so my apologies if the above advice is not suitable for your requirements.

JennyJ

I would have thought digging the hole for the pond would produce a good bit of subsoil (unless you have exceptionally deep topsoil).