Pond area 4 years on

I was really tempted to get some gunneras for my garden, but like you say they are very large! But I do love the foliage!

I'll certainly get some erysimums, I think I've heard of them but can't place them. I have quite a lot of teasels at the back, so I'll get plenty of long spikey things hehe

lol Jason,  the leaves are so large you could use them as a garden umbrella  !!    as for Erysimums, take a look HERE

Thanks Hazy! I have heard of them, they're part of the wall flower family I see. I'll definitely get some. Have you grown yours from seed or have you bought the plants? I'd be tempted from seed as it's cheaper hehe

Jason d said:

Have you grown yours from seed or have you bought the plants?

    We bought these already grown and in pots from Aldi earlier this year so keep a look out next season for them as they were under two quid  !    I will let you know if I see them for sale again.   

Thanks Hazy :)

Hi hazel, now my pond has been nicely filled with rain water courtesy of this constant deluge. I was wondering about adding some plants do you think I should add some now or wait until after winter. I've been researching a few different ones I'll be after some oxygenators a few for cover and then maybe some flowering plants for insects and to look nice. There's a lot to choose from and I think I can't really go wrong so long as I choose nothing too rampant as its a small pond. I also need to get some pebbles to create a beach to get in and out did you use anything special that's safe for the Eco system or will any old pebbles do. I've read not to use man made materials as these may bleach lime or other things into the water. Do you reckon a bag of pebbles from the builders merchant would be OK?

I've attached a pic it's about 1.2 m square and I had to raise it a bit to create some extra depth. It's not finished yet as I will be putting a wooden frame around the top to tidy it up. It has a ramp on the other side which is the shallow side as well. The pic was about a week ago before the weather got apocalyptic.

Evening Martin, your pond looks fantastic, love the stone walling and paving around your garden and once you get the plants and flowers in/around the pond it will be amazing and attract a lot of birds and insects I am sure.    As for pebbles, the natural ones from builders merchant or garden centres are fine to use;   the guys who constructed our pond washed them with the hosepipe before they went into the pond, in fact, they washed even the gravel that went into the reed bed area !   Once springtime comes there will be a better selection for you to choose from regarding pond/marginal plants.  I particularly liked the Cotula coronopifolia or Common name: Golden buttons as it has yellow flowers which last months.  As for grasses we chose Carex variety, and Flag Iris for mariginal or the bog garden in our case.  Other plants which I liked are Mimulus, Ranunculus, and you can get a minature waterlily along with a couple of oxygenators as these will spread.  I would leave the main planting until April time now as they will be hard to buy out of season.  You may need to add something like a fertiliser spike if you add a waterlily to help it flower; you can find these (Laguna spikes) online.

Here's a website  that lists different pond plants which may give you some ideas as to size, colour and varieties. 

Good luck Martin, it really does look brilliant so keep us updated :)  

Cheers. I was unsure about the pebbles sometimes the more you research these things the more confused I get. I'll try source some Asap and give them a good rinse and I'll definitely look up gold on buttons I like the sound of that plant. I can't take credit for the paving as that was all there when we moved in but that was all.it was a bit barren. Since moving in I've taken a lot of it up putting a sunken bed in and a raised bed. At one end of the garden was a pile of rubbish and old fallen down fence which once removed we discovered the frog who since has been given priority over any designs for the garden. With all the flowers coming out in the beds this summer the garden was alive with insects and I'm sure there's a bee keeper locally who owes us a pot of honey as I was always greeted with a buzz when I got in from work. I think my neighbours might think I'm a bit weird as I was constantly out just looking at the different bugs on the plants sometimes with a torch at night. Managed to do it all myself on a budget learning as i went along. Apart from the fence which I got help with a friend. I will try and do a post with before and after pics but I need to get on my laptop as it doesn't seem to let me inbed pics from my iPad. It's still a work in progress can't wait for next spring.

Your garden looks beautiful Martin, a real credit to you with all that hard work of maintaining, repairing and planting to attract the bees and other insects so deserve that pot of honey from your local bee-keeper;  your pond will be the icing on the cake and if you are still feeling adventurous you can add a pond light or two - or three - I have a picture of ours (lit up) somewhere if I can find it on the hard drive.  and don't worry about the neighbours,  I've been outside in minus 17 degrees (during that cold winter of 2010/11 in dressing gown and garden boots to feed the birds  -   we're just called eccentrics   !!!

found two pics showing the lights when they first went in after the pond was finished;   the ones round the edge (30 LED Natural Rock)   are underwater ones although we have them on the surface and the larger lights in bog garden are Laguna 10's     

not great photos as I wasn't into photography those days !!

Hi Martin, your garden looks amazing, you've completely transformed it. Perhaps you could get a hive of your own? It's quite popular these days.

Hazy, you make me green with envy, but I don't envy the time you spend keeping it all lovely! I've been trying to dig a border at the end of our garden but the rain has come & that's probably it now until the spring. Still, I can start to buy a few plants for the bits I've done. Maybe pond digging in the spring too, but only a tiddly one.