Why do you assume your son will fall in? We have 9 grandchildren who are around our pond constantly - not one has ever fallen in. Plus your pond is so shallow - what harm could come if he does fall in? He could just stand right up and climb back out. If you want to teach him to stay back, perhaps a low bit of fencing in the front edge - just 12 or 18 inches high, as a reminder to not get any closer. But he will love feeding the fish and watching them and looking for other critters in the pond. Kids love ponds!
As for the heron - I'd suggest more plant cover. But ultimately - while you're right that cover is ugly - a net can be the only defense that really works if the heron is persistent. There are better ways to do it though. Lots of folks here have netted ponds - search for "net" and you'll see lots of posts.
So I'm not assuming he'll fall in, just it's a thing people worry about right? Especially my parents' generation because of the Don't Look Now effect I think...
Kids can drown in pretty shallow water I think but tbh I'm not too worried but the missus is and if I'm going to win the battle to keep the pond (she doesn't want to) I'll need to at least make visible efforts to make it more childproof I think...
I've not seem a heron to be fair but can only assume the previous owner had that cover for a reason? Should I just chance it?
Congrats on the new house and welcome to GPF.
I'm walking the line here between too worried or not. We had family friends whose toddler drowned in the back yard, unwatched for only a few minutes. And, I live in Florida, US, with lots of water around. It isn't just for your child, it's for his visiting friends and their potentially worried parents .
That being said, I've seen a lot of decorative pond covers, many from the UK, that look like the below. There's a UK firm called "Creative Pond Covers" and I don't know if they're good or if they're expensive or horribly expensive, but it's something you could look into.
