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What are your garden plans for next year?

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  • @Fire, when you say a "window-box-pond", do you mean on the ground?  
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    ViewAhead said:
    @Fire, when you say a "window-box-pond", do you mean on the ground?  
    The pond I was describing is in a raised bed, but you could sink it anywhere. The dustbin pond is in the ground. The deeper the container, the better, as you don't have to top it up so often.




  • @Fire do you get mozzies in your dustbin ponds or are they so planted there is minimal water surface? I love the idea but know my husband's first reaction would be 'but what about mozzies?'
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    I'm with @Joyce Goldenlily - jobs started and not finished this year will need to be got on with next year.  
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    @Fire do you get mozzies in your dustbin ponds or are they so planted there is minimal water surface? I love the idea but know my husband's first reaction would be 'but what about mozzies?'

    I use Mozzie Bits or Dunks as I am very allergic to the bites. About half a teapoon of Bits lasts about six months. Targets only mozi larva and works within 24 hours. I wouldn't be able to have ponds otherwise.


  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    As usual I am thinking: bigger, more, rarer, more colourful, but.... will my failing health allow it? I can't imagine trying to make it less work, not in my nature.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • Fire said:
    @Fire do you get mozzies in your dustbin ponds or are they so planted there is minimal water surface? I love the idea but know my husband's first reaction would be 'but what about mozzies?'

    I use Mozzie Bits or Dunks as I am very allergic to the bites. About half a teapoon of Bits lasts about six months. Targets only mozi larva and works within 24 hours. I wouldn't be able to have ponds otherwise.


    Ooh, now you are tempting me to have a go. 😁  I've never had a pond, but I do have frogs.  They shelter in my slightly overgrown clumps of carex grasses through the summer.  No one near me has a pond, though a couple of gardens have water features.  My guess is my frogs use the large, ground level, shallow bird bath when they want a dip, though I have never actually seen them do this.   They do manage to get up on my 18" high raised beds, so potentially I could sink a pond container in one of these. 

    Will 2024 be my Year Of The Pond? 😁
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I know how you feel @punkdoc. When I downsized and moved to a smaller house I just couldn't resist choosing one with a big bare garden. It's such fun planning, digging and planting and going to GCs and looking at plants online. I used to love growing from seed and cuttings but I don't get much chance now that I have an OH who lives in England and I live in France, never in one or the other for long enough, though I have managed a vegetable garden in France with help from CB (local French handyman) who waters it.
    Maybe, now that I'm in my 70s I should try to control myself  :/
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Sounds great. These are the best two window boxes that I found this year, for the purpose (I did a lot of online hunting).
    This "pond in a pot" is nice, but expensive and not sure how easy it is to get hold of.

    I chose one as deep as I could find, for a reasonable price, with no pre-drilled drainage holes. The advantage of using window boxes is that they are UV protected, so the plastic should last well in the long term. I also wanted one that gave easy access for critters in and out. Some boxes have lip over-hangs which is no good for exiting. If I change my mind on the ponds they are entirely ready to repurpose. There are a lot of containers available from pond shops, but they are very expensive for what they are - essentially plastic buckets.
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