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During last year's end of April holiday, we hired a mini digger to build a pond and dug a rough hole.
We weren't expecting the next step to take over a year to get around to! Having decided that our rough hole in the ground wouldn't really cut it, we bit the bullet and hired 2 men who knew what they were doing with a digger, and who turned the rough hole into this:
They added a shelf along one side and a shallow area at one end which will become a bog garden. We covered the excavation with a layer of sand:
We created a wall to separate the pond from the bog garden:
My parents came over for a pond-lining party:
During the course of last Sunday we got the underlay and liner in place and began to fill the pond.
The bog garden got a filling with water to flatten the liner. This will be pumped out when we create the bog:
The other half and I still have to conclude our argument about where to build up a rockery for a waterfall that will go around/down the middle of/next to the bog garden and I think we need to increase the height of the wall and shore up a low point in the banking, but it's already been idyllic to sit on the edge of the pond in the sunshine, dangling our feet in the water and watching the sky reflected in the water's ripples, and the water reflected on the branches of the willows at the edge of the pond.
It's now payday and my fingers are itching to get out my bank card and splurge on plants! I can't wait to see it planted up and see what moves in!
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
WOW Maisie,
You look as though you are off to a good start with your pond, it looks great,
sounds so relaxing by your pond, please keep us up-dated on the progress of your pond, we would love to see it as it gets established,
Brilliant job! A really good size, too. One word of caution, however;- Waterfalls can sometimes be problematic, & a source of mysterious leaks;- If you build one up within the area of the pond liner, any leaks can only fall back into the pond. (I've gone out to half-empty ponds an embarrassing number of times...)
Thanks Brucie. The waterfall should bisect the bog garden bit so anything coming out of it should hopefully stay at least somewhere in the region of the pond. I'll put an extra bit of liner under it just in case!
Fantastic, that'll look amazing when its done. I witnessed 2 red damselflys mating next to my pond for the first time, it really made all my hard work worth while. You won't be dissapointed once the wildlife comes.
So, a few months later and it's still not done (something that will come as no surprise to anyone who knows the usual speed of any DIY in this household). The dividing wall had to be raised by a layer to stop water passing between the 2 sections, which meant lifting the liner and re-laying it. We did try to cheat by adding a layer on top and covering it with another liner, but it wasn't waterproof. That's enabled the main section to fill all the way to the top, rather than a few inches short. I was all set to add plants and visited an aquatics nursery. The owner advised us that putting marginal plants in baskets along the shelf would look unnatural and risk taller plants falling over due to lack of support. He suggested making a row of bricks along the edge of the shelf and filling with a few inches of heavy clay soil. Naturally our wall of reclaimed paviors is unfinished and we haven't dug up any soil yet, but I did invest in some floating planters so I could have at least *some* plants!
Hosepipe and rainwater have filled the pond. The recent flooding made it one with the surrounding area for a while and actually lifted the liner even with some aerated concrete blocks on top! Since then I've made a few holes in that smaller section's liner and nearly covered the bottom with gravel, adding the first few breeze blocks that will make a stable foundation for a central section with the waterfall and wider rockery area.
I'm planning to schlep to Wickes again tomorrow lunchtime for a last few bags of gravel. Once the liner's fully covered, THEN I can start on the fun bit of building the rockery. Since the other half and I disagreed on the waterfall bit (he thinks it'll be too tall and look out of place. I disagree.) I get to build it. I've already built one rockery and look forward to the creative challenge. But not the endless barrowing of soil or lugging of really big rocks.
In the meantime the water beetles and whirligigs have already moved in and today I saw a grey wagtail (a new species for our garden!) having a drink in the shallow sloped bit. Fingers crossed for some good weather so I can get the rockery done and finish making something to hold up some cobbles for the slope.
Fabulous, Maisie! It's as good as making one ourselves, without the disadvantage of having to do all the work! Congrats on the Wagtail; really looking forward to hearing what else arrives, please.
Hi Maisie, Your pond looks brilliant!! Should attract lots of wildlife, wonderful :)
Wow that's incredible!! ok forward to seeing it mature.
'In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks' John Muir.
Excuse wobbily dyslexic spelling!
Wonderful MAISIE - very well done indeed. Super pic of the damselflys too. I hope you post pics of the pond as it matures
Maisie,
I know how you must feel as I had a pond dug in my garden in the Loire Valley just
under 3 years ago. lots of planting round the edge and it already looking as though
it has been there for years. I have frogs - very noisy - and fish, although I thought
I had made a mistake as they eat tadpoles, etc., but there a quite a few little froglets
around - about 1" long.
But my joy knew no bounds when I saw a kingfisher sitting on one of the plants and
then actually catch one of the small goldfish.
I posted about on rural gardens in France.
Patience is needed but you will be so rewarded with wildlife and very soon. It is
amazing how they find their way to water.
Good luck.