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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.
They're taken with a Samsung HMX-W300 camera. Pretty basic and we just stuck it on the end of a big pole and swooshed it through the water. I'm keen on getting a static CCTV camera in there now to see what comes past. I found myself trying to move my neck to look round corners watching the video.. which of course doesn't work! Looks like there are quite a few daphnia in there and some little fast things I couldn't identify, as well as the usual water beetles, boatpeople, skatersa and the snails. Love how the water lilies look from underneath and the colours that the sun brings out in the oxygenators.
The camera works really well Maisie, exploring underwater is a whole new world with the camera, well done, keep them coming lol
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Regards, Hazel
Superb, Maisie, thanks so much for showing us these films. Jacques Cousteau eat your heart out! I kept expecting a lobster or conger eel to swim past lol! Yes, the colours of plant stems are beautiful. Hope you can get some more... roll on Spring!
Very nice pond and nice videos of it, Maisie.
Jim
My Pictures
My Fbook Group
It's been a long time since I've been here, but I wanted to share the latest arrivals to the pond. I was surprised a couple of weeks ago to see something long and wriggling in the pond. It looked like a fish.. only I've never put fish in and as far as I know they haven't learnt to walk or fly yet, so it could only be ... a newt? Having no real idea what newts even look like I went Googling, and after a few more weeks getting to know and watch them, I think I have Smooth Newts. It rained the other day and I wondered whether they liked the raindrops on the pond surface. Seems maybe they do!
One of the "guys"
Guys and girls:
Also some water beetle larvae. We have the small common beetles as well as the giant diving beetles. I posted a video of the giant diving beetle larva to Facebook for help with ID and got the reply "Don't know but remind me to bring a flamethrower next time I'm near your pond!" :D They're impressive huge things.
Looks like you have a thriving little community there! Great clips. Very interesting.
Unicum arbustum haud alit duos erithacos
(One bush does not shelter two Robins)
Zenodotus (3rd Century B.C.)
Fantastic to see the life in your pond Maisie. I put in a pond last year and although I don't have any Newts I do have water beetle larvae. I'm thinking that one or two of them may be be Great Diving Beetle larvae as they are really quite large. I really enjoyed seeing your videos.
Paul
My bird photos HERE