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Hello All,
I hope that you all had a good Christmas and New Year? I'm back to work tomorrow following two weeks off so a bit depressed tonight!
Whilst we have been having this terrible weather I simply haven't been unable to get out in the garden as it is completely water logged! This has however given me the opportunity to think about what I need to add to the garden in 2014 for my beloved wildlife.
Following a lot of head scratching (partly due to Nits that my daughter brought home from infant school YUKK!) I decided that although we have several small bodies of water and water features and of course the (fish only) large Koi pond, I need to include a larger body of water dedicated to wildlife and native planting.
Having just viewed Hazy's impressive pond build I'm not sure how interesting mine will be as it will be on a small budget and completed by me on my Todd with dodgy hips and back!! LOL
Any way my decision to dig up the family lawn was met with a resounding "NO!" from Mrs H so I had to think of another plan to include a bigger pond without losing anything else from the garden. This actually proved quite difficult as the garden is now well developed and planted but fit this in I must!!
So donning wellies and with Choco at my side we squelched out to see how we could fit this impossible plan into my already crowded garden. After much deliberation and more head scratching (damn Nit shampoo doesn't work good job I haven't got much hair!!!) it was decided that I would have to lose about half of my wildflower area! Now this isn't an ideal solution but I've estimated that I can regain the same area if not more by planting wild flower strips in other parts of the garden (Don't tell Mrs H!!)
To try and explain the complete and utter jumble that is in now spinning around inside my head here's a few pictures and sketches of what I'm planning and what I hope will give you a better idea of what I'm trying to achieve!....
1. So firstly this picture shows you where in the garden the pond will be. As you look at it the right hand side of the wild flower area will be similar to the size and shape of the proposed pond. This is however a very old picture and the dry gravel river bed extends right across the garden now. The wild flower area oh the left will remain but here it is only partly de-turfed and is a little bigger now. (This area is in the bottom third of the whole plot)
2. Now you can see where it sits within the garden this picture gives a little better representation of the shape and size of the pond (right) and remaining wild flower area (left)
3. So what does the inside of my head look like?
Well I tend to get an idea and be able to see how it will look almost straight away, I then play around with it in my mind until it looks about right before going outside, getting stuck in and just letting it evolve! However for this purpose I have attempted to draw what is inside my head and what I envisage this to look like!
It's not very often that I put my thoughts down on paper so please do forgive my terrible drawing and obviously it's not all to scale but a fairly accurate representation of the idea I think....
(click on picture to enlarge)
I hope that this scribbled plan makes sense? Basically you can see the edition of the new pond is quite substantial but I feel fits quite nicely into this area with the wild flowers and then the wildlife area behind. You can see that the loss of wild flower planting is made up by further planting of wild flowers around the swing, the fronts and one side of the raised veg beds, along the raised bank in the wildlife area and the addition of more flowers along the bank of the dry gravel river bed. The two areas alongside the pond and next to the seating pod will be planted with extra tall pollinating perennials such as Purple Loosestrife and other native perennials that are good pollinating plants. The secret seating pod will actually be cut off from the rest of the garden and will become only accessible by a small bridge adding to it's secrecy and privacy.
One of the biggest problems with siting the pond here will be getting it to sit naturally into the rest of the garden. A big problem with this spot is that the lowest point of the garden is actually the dry gravel river bed feature and would normally be where the water sits in a natural landscape. This ditch is in fact an old drainage ditch (Known locally as a gripe) When this land was a field the water would naturally sit in the gripes so that the cattle could stand on higher and drier land! This ditch still floods if we get a lot of rain and there is a drainage pipe buried underneath meaning that I can't excavate it or include it in the pond!
To overcome this problem and to make sure that there is a logical relationship between the pond and the ditch I have decided to build an old stone 'damning' wall complete with old rusty iron sluice gate! This will give a natural partnership between the two features and a logical explanation to the pond being on slightly higher ground.
So again attempting to demonstrate what is in my head here's another scribble of what this feature should look like.....
As you can see the wall will be given an 'old' look with planting pockets built in for some native plants that you may find in old stone walls. This will be a feature not a working damn or sluice ( I ain't that good!! LOL) but I'm hoping that it will look OK once overgrown and weathered in.
Again to give you a visual representation of my plans, I hope that this feature will in time look how the 'old stone bridge' feature that I built at the other end of the dry gravel river bed a couple of years ago looks now (over grown and natural)...
Well that's my plans for 2014 and what is currently floating around in my mess of a head! I have posted this up as it will be a long process for me due to my current disabilities and I think quite a challenge. I'm hoping that by having it here it will give me the motivation to get it done and I do hope a few of you will find this an interesting project to follow as it evolves?
It will take quite some time to do and in the first instance a while before the garden is in a dry enough condition for me to start! I will try and post up what I'm doing even if just trying to 'blag' materials (remember I have very little budget for this!!!) to try and keep the interest going.
Let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas that might help me or enhance this project or just anything that I may have missed?...
Best
Higgy
Thank you so very much Higgy, that is really good of you to provide this list which is most helpful. I have planted quite a few different flowers over the last couple of years but with the squirrels around sometimes they just disappear, never to be seen again !!! so I would like to get a few more in this year as there is nothing quite like the colour, smell and visual beauty of some bee/insect friendly flowers :) I will print this off so I can take it to the garden centre next time I go. I find Aldi sometimes has some good offers on flowers/plants and that is where I bought the Coreopsis, Platycodon, Lavenders, etc., Thanks again Higgy :)
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Regards, Hazel
OH AT LAST!!.. Some decent weather and bright sunshine, it feels like we are being spoiled!!
Of course this fantastic weather has enabled me to get out in the garden and actually get some stuff done at last.
I have now managed to get a layer of about 6inches dug out of the pond to help really get an idea of the shape and size and so that any adjustments can be made....
Once the general shape and size had been determined I needed to build the wall that will separate this pond from the dry gravel river bed and it is this that will help the pond sit comfortably in it's location and make sense of the two features as the pond will appear to be held back by the wall but will overflow through a channel in the top of the wall (that's the theory anyway!)
So I cleared the area for the wall by digging out the bank of the dry river bed...
And added concrete footings so that the wall has a solid base and doesn't move...
Then simply build a wall....
It looks a bit stark at the moment and unfortunately I realised whilst doing the photos tonight that one of the stones on the right hand side has slipped down, probably whilst positioning the large capping stones above it. I should hopefully be able to disguise this with some planting but it goes to show you need to check thoroughly otherwise you miss things like this!
Any how you will have noticed that I have left a gap between the large gapping stones, this has been done like this as when I put the liner in the pond it will overlap here and will be sandwiched in place with another flat stone on top. This channel will then become the overflow for the pond and give the relationship with the dry gravel bed.
Another quick view looking along the length of the pond to give some perspective...
That's about it for today. It's nice to have now actually started after all the planning and waiting for the ground to dry out! I'm hoping to have water in before summer so that the pond will have time to mature over the summer and start really working for us next year.
If you are interested to see this feature continue to develop then watch this space!....
Great update Higgy, this weather today has enabled us to get out in the garden and nice to see the wonderful progress you are making with the pond area. It's going to be fantastic and such a fabulous area to attract all the birds and wildlife. This afternoon I've spent a well over 2 hours digging over the bog pond area, weeding, pruning back some grasses and shrubs, trimming Euonymus, Choisya and Hebes, etc., I wanted to stay out there all day gardening but the annoying tennis elbow puts paid to the amount of work I can do. Still, Rome wasn't build in a day LOL I bet your hips, back and elbow are aching too after all that hard work !
There have been bumblebees, ladybirds, and a yellow butterfly (didn't get a close up view) which have all been hovering around in the sunshine. What a difference a day makes ! it was so cold yesterday and very grey and windy.
Hi Hazel,
Glad you have been doing a bit and enjoying the weather! The yellow butterfly will be a Brimstone I had a couple in the garden this morning and they really did look yellow in the bright sunshine and in perfect condition.
I'm like buses can't post much on here for some time and then all of a sudden have lots to write about!
Any way just the morning from 9am - 1pm in the garden today and to be honest that was enough as I was feeling it a bit!
First thing I got the exact levels marked out by hammering in some stakes and then using a spirit level to ensure that they were all the same height....
This took some time but it will be worth it to ensure that the top of the pond will be completely even once filled with water.
I then did a bit of digging to continue 'shaping' the pond, although not finished it does feel like it's moving in the right direction. ...
I'm also using some of the soil that I'm digging out to create banks around this part of the garden which will be planted with wild flowers once completed. By doing this it gives areas that will drain better and allow for a much wider variety of plants than I would of otherwise been able to use on this dampish clay...
That's about it for now and back to work tomorrow so I'm not sure when the next installment will be.
Morning Higgy, that looks amazing already and 4 hours work is a fair slog. I'm glad we are into some fine weather so we can get into our gardens and start the Spring work. When you talked of spirit levels, mounded the extracted soil into banks, etc., it took me back 2 years ago when all that was being carried out here, as you say, its important to get things level, even the edging stones and run-off area were spirit leveled off and the stones were cemented in place; as a matter of interest Higgy the contractors seemed to add some frost protection liquid to the cement mix to stop it shrinking and cracking, especially during severe cold spells. I wish you fair weather Higgy and continued progress, loving these updates. Just remember, to stop for your tea breaks and give the back, hips, arms a rest lol I think I took 4 tea breaks yesterday and only did less than three hours work !! Hope your garden chair is nearby and another one to put your feet up on whilst sipping the tea :)
LOL thanks Hazy,
I'm doing the litle(ish) and often method so I was out for two hours after work this evening and am pleased to say that the excavation is now complete!! No pictures yet but I'll snap a couple tomorrow.
Back, hips, knees and shoulders are all aching like mad but I feel good in myself for making the effort and getting some physical activity going again! And no need to worry I love my tea and even if I don't stop whilst working I will drink a couple of teapot fulls in the evening to make up for it! (it's the biscuits that go with it that I need to cut out!!)
LOL, can't have a cuppa without a biscuit, gives you the energy to continue with the work ! Yesterday I cut back more of the grasses and looked over at the "to be" stumpery area and took a deep breath - where o start ! lol at least I have Mike who enjoys gardening and can do the heavy lifting of logs with a little help from me. Today we have a delivery of 4 Rowan trees (Sorbus Aucuparia) 8/10 std. so reasonably well established ones. We will no doubt be planting them this afternoon once the warmth of the sun increases; had a light frost overnight. Today we had a wild rabbit in the garden, quite a surprise ! wish I would have left carrots out lol Also saw 2 x Mistle Thrushes in the Beech tree and 4 x Jays came to eat peanuts, plus a GSW male so a good start to the day ! Look forward to your next installment, now I'm off to have a cuppa :) BTW, forgot to thank you for the Brimstone ID when I saw the yellow butterfly the other day, so thank you Higgy !
Oh that's great to see the rabbit and those birds, it demonstrates that this wildlife gardening 'lark' does work!
Bit tight for time today so just a quick update to say that the pond liner has been ordered and should arrive on Friday. All being well we should have water in the pond at the weekend (I hope!!)
Wow Higgy, you are going great guns and you'll have a really wonderful wildlife haven for all the birds and critters to enjoy for many years to come. As you say, all the extra effort and features do pay off and not only do you have a fantastic focal point in your garden and a place to relax and enjoy but you are creating a suberb wildlife habitat at the same time. I love nothing more than to see the dragonflies, water-beetles/boatmen, etc., on the surface of the pond and the birds splashing around in the water :) along with the colourful insect friendly plants.
May your good progress continue lol look forward to the next update :) I've got to plant my 4 Rowan trees today with Mike's help but first have to visit garden centre to get some more compost, bonemeal and root grow to give them a good start although they are already 12ft high ! Alan (Doggie) put me onto this great tree nursery, the quality is fantastic and when they arrived it took me 15 minutes to get all the bubble-wrap and ties off them lol
Wow 12ft high that is a good tree! Mine were about 8ft and I though they were good!
Anyway here are a few pictures, not very exciting but shows the finished excavation...
The pictures don't show it very well but it's about 2ft deep at the deepest point and there's a nice big shallow shelf for putting all the marginal plants on which should give it a natural look especially with all the wild-flowers around the edges also.
Wow Hazy, I have been like a man on a mission!! I've enjoyed getting outside and having a project again so much that I've struggled to stop myself! I've been home from work straight in my 'scruffs' and out working and enjoying the weather!
Hopefully the next update will see it looking less like a muddy hole in the ground!