Re children and the dangers of accidents in water, I looked into the figures of this once for that Water Gardening magazine that Paul and I used to edit. Apparently it's boys aged under 5 who are most at risk - I don't know if that's because they are more clumsy or just more inclined to explore than girls!

Anyway, but it's worth erring on the side of caution and supervising youngsters around ponds - it's often when children are visiting friends and relatives that accidents happen - they are rare but even one accident a year is one too many!

Re just filling the pond up and waiting, it's amazing how quickly wildlife floods to water, especially once you put a few plants in!