Me wild life pond has been somewhat bereft of life at all reently. Today tho', I went oop t'lotty with She who MUST, and found two dollops of spawn........... AT LAST !!! Late last summer, I had some help enlarging the wee pond we had by 'Wor Shed', which was a bittie overgrown and crowded. Made it bigger by some 50% I reckon. Anyway, it is filled up naturally, new weeds establishing gradually, and soon She who MUST, will be chattering away to the growing population of frogs. I shall post a picie of said pond, and dollops by tomorrow, if the weather is clement.
But we're with you every step of the way Clari Did the pond get any attention this week, or was it all man-shed?
Its mainly manshed and moving rocks (oh my gosh so many rocks) from where the vege plot will be at the moment unfortunately until I can save up for the next bit with is the timber surrounds and plant life (which arrives at the pond place in mid March). Although its a thick frost out there this morning I'm hoping the longer nights will be kind to us so I can get out there longer. Work just gets in the way!
Ggirl - lots of things will be happy in the clay soil - all the ponds I've had have been surrounded by it. The flag irises and bog plants of all sorts will be fine if it's wet and soggy all the time. A grass that looks great by ponds is Spartina. Not always easy to find but it copes with fluctuating water so it want mind being wet sometimes and dry at others. It's an arching green/yellow grass with foliage like a finer Phormium. Gets to about a metre or so and forms a nice clump. Schizostylus (Kaffir lily) grew well round my last one too and they give a bit of late colour. All the sedges will do well in clay.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I took this about September last year. The water had been in from the end of July. We had trouble with levelling due to dry, crumbly soil. so we had liner at ground level rather than it tucked under the grass as I had seen on Pond Conservation site. I left about 6" of liner then put new turf between the edge of remaining lawn and over the liner. I had some hessian sacking that I tucked under the new turf and dangled it over the liner and into the water. This acted like a wick and the grass is now well on its way down to water level in most places. You can see it poking out under the grass at the far side. I was worried about the turf on the liner drying out but it's absolutely alive with worms. It's the best thing you can do for wildlife. Love it.
My pond is quite small, my son dug it before he went to University in the summer holidays, he is now 30. I don't seem to have a recent picture and it's messier and more overgrown now. This was 2007.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Nut - I bought Spartina many years ago from a specialist grass nursery - in Suffolk I think - which no longer exists. I was looking for it again last year for this garden, and located a place online but it was very expensive. On a trip to the nursery I was looking at grasses - and there it was for a fiver.
I don't know why it's not more widely available as it makes a nice arching clump once it gets going. I remember Alan Titchmarsh having it in his Barleywood garden. I think it grows well in coastal areas due to it coping with varying water levels. I'm sure I read about it growing in and around Morecambe Bay but I may have dreamt that!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
Some pond pics for you LF
In the sticks near Peterborough
Me wild life pond has been somewhat bereft of life at all reently. Today tho', I went oop t'lotty with She who MUST, and found two dollops of spawn........... AT LAST !!! Late last summer, I had some help enlarging the wee pond we had by 'Wor Shed', which was a bittie overgrown and crowded. Made it bigger by some 50% I reckon. Anyway, it is filled up naturally, new weeds establishing gradually, and soon She who MUST, will be chattering away to the growing population of frogs. I shall post a picie of said pond, and dollops by tomorrow, if the weather is clement.
Ggirl - lots of things will be happy in the clay soil - all the ponds I've had have been surrounded by it. The flag irises and bog plants of all sorts will be fine if it's wet and soggy all the time. A grass that looks great by ponds is Spartina. Not always easy to find but it copes with fluctuating water so it want mind being wet sometimes and dry at others. It's an arching green/yellow grass with foliage like a finer Phormium. Gets to about a metre or so and forms a nice clump. Schizostylus (Kaffir lily) grew well round my last one too and they give a bit of late colour. All the sedges will do well in clay.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks for all the photos, much appreciated.
Nutcutlet, wow, thats an amazing pond a a beautiful garden. I wish I had space for a pond that size.
Thanks LF
Fairy, spartina copes with fluctuating water levels? I shall have to try that one. the water level drops a long way in a dry season
In the sticks near Peterborough
A couple of photos of my pond dug by myself and my children about 5 years ago,
I took this about September last year. The water had been in from the end of July. We had trouble with levelling due to dry, crumbly soil. so we had liner at ground level rather than it tucked under the grass as I had seen on Pond Conservation site. I left about 6" of liner then put new turf between the edge of remaining lawn and over the liner. I had some hessian sacking that I tucked under the new turf and dangled it over the liner and into the water. This acted like a wick and the grass is now well on its way down to water level in most places. You can see it poking out under the grass at the far side. I was worried about the turf on the liner drying out but it's absolutely alive with worms. It's the best thing you can do for wildlife. Love it.
It doesn't have fish anymore, it has toads.
My pond is quite small, my son dug it before he went to University in the summer holidays, he is now 30. I don't seem to have a recent picture and it's messier and more overgrown now. This was 2007.
Nut - I bought Spartina many years ago from a specialist grass nursery - in Suffolk I think - which no longer exists. I was looking for it again last year for this garden, and located a place online but it was very expensive. On a trip to the nursery I was looking at grasses - and there it was for a fiver.
I don't know why it's not more widely available as it makes a nice arching clump once it gets going. I remember Alan Titchmarsh having it in his Barleywood garden. I think it grows well in coastal areas due to it coping with varying water levels. I'm sure I read about it growing in and around Morecambe Bay but I may have dreamt that!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...