Don't underestimate the amount of soil it takes to fill a pond. My (inherited with the house) one is half-full now, but according to 'soil estimating tools' I still need about 6-7 tonnes of soil! D'oh!
(Pond is 5m x 3m and currently about 350mm deep)
Just to make you feel better - the soil will settle too once the rain gets into it over the next 12 months or so. You will probably have to top it up.
I thought I'd be clever when I removed our pond and part filled it with rubble. That left big air gaps which the soil obviously found its way into over time and levels kept dropping. After several years we had a patio built over it, and it's still possible to see a slight depression in the slabs where the pond was.
Don't leave your compost scoop in the bag then decide to tip the whole thing is a pot, arrange and dig in your plants, add grit on top for a good finish and then can't find your scoop anywhere... #doh!
Don't allow your neighbours' puppy to run round all your newly labelled plant pots gleefully removing all the labels "for the fun of it". When I say "allow" I didn't exactly have a choice - it is very open here, low stone walls etc. I had to take action though when I was hanging out the washing and she pinched and ran down the drive with a pair of my knickers - wouldn't mind as much but they were Bridget Jones-style! My arthritic hips have never moved so quick
Martina Franca, Puglia, southern Italy Love living in Italy but a Loiner at heart
Don't tip a pot of what you thought was old compost straight on to the borders of your new garden, without checking it for vine weevil grubs first. I spent a good hour picking these little buggers out of the soil so as not to spread the vine weevil problem to a new neighbourhood!
Don't try to fill in a pond completely, leave it a bit concave and create a bog garden. That way it won't matter if the soil settles and it gives some lovely new planting opportunities.
Don't underestimate the amount of soil it takes to fill a pond. My (inherited with the house) one is half-full now, but according to 'soil estimating tools' I still need about 6-7 tonnes of soil! D'oh!
(Pond is 5m x 3m and currently about 350mm deep)
Just to make you feel better - the soil will settle too once the rain gets into it over the next 12 months or so. You will probably have to top it up.
I thought I'd be clever when I removed our pond and part filled it with rubble. That left big air gaps which the soil obviously found its way into over time and levels kept dropping. After several years we had a patio built over it, and it's still possible to see a slight depression in the slabs where the pond was.
Urgh I know. I've been watering the soil to try and force it to settle quicker. I also buried the broken up slabs from around the edge, but they are about 3-4ft deep (it was a koi pond). I'm hoping the settle/top up will not be too bad.
Growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional.
Don't grab any weeds or unwanted plants to pull without gloves on. Spring nettles sting. A lot!
More importantly, don't let OH - who only thinks he's good at DIY - erect wooden posts using metposts and then string tensioned wires between them. They end up being pulled over at an angle I don't want to contemplate for the rest of my life so he's having to start again.
In addition, don't let him trail the leccy extension down there when you're watering re-planted pots. It blows the trips in the fuse box and then he gets cross.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I'm not sure it's a "don't" (because others may have more success) so much as an "I won't". I won't ever again sow sweet pea seeds in autumn, thinking I'm giving them a good head start and looking forward to having lovely strong, big sweet pea seedlings in the spring.
No.
Because what will happen is that I spend the entire winter trying to protect tiny sweet pea seedlings which then spend most of early spring looking leggy and sad, despite having all the light I could procure for them, while the sweet pea seedlings I sow in March gather all the strength of an army and overtake stringy sad winter seedlings to become bushy, healthy and more than slightly smug specimens.
Posts
Love living in Italy but a Loiner at heart
More importantly, don't let OH - who only thinks he's good at DIY - erect wooden posts using metposts and then string tensioned wires between them. They end up being pulled over at an angle I don't want to contemplate for the rest of my life so he's having to start again.
In addition, don't let him trail the leccy extension down there when you're watering re-planted pots. It blows the trips in the fuse box and then he gets cross.
No.
Because what will happen is that I spend the entire winter trying to protect tiny sweet pea seedlings which then spend most of early spring looking leggy and sad, despite having all the light I could procure for them, while the sweet pea seedlings I sow in March gather all the strength of an army and overtake stringy sad winter seedlings to become bushy, healthy and more than slightly smug specimens.