Diydick's Profile

I am an all round d.i.y.er although not much of a gardener. I started my garden project in 2005 and have added and changed it a bit since.It has been hard work.
I am looking at doing another part re-design as I am getting bored with some of what I have done and can't sit still for long.
I have just removed 2 fairly large trees which has opened the garden up a bit and allowing more light in.I may remove a few more to allow some of the other changes I would like to make.
I have taken many pictures (100's) of my garden project from the very start showing all the ground work with several tonnes of earth being dug out by hand.All the work was done by myself,and I have a bad back to prove it lol!
There are pipes buried in the garden carrying water from the pond to the water fall,home built bio-filter and rainwater butt to top up the pond.An estimated 300 mtrs of various cables,several junction boxes etc to supply the pumps filters and lighting.Many lights can be switched on and off in groups to get different moods/effects at night time and some of these are auto colour changing.
I am an electrician if you hadn't already guessed,hence all the lighting.
I am also an amateur artist and taken my painting skills to some of the figurenes in the garden like "Pearl" the naked woman,gargoyles and faeries.So its a bit of a fantasy garden.
I am not much of a gardener but I am trying.I have only been planting in the garden since 2008 as it took 3 years to do all the ground work and build the pond/waterfall with various changes.
I have some more tough work ahead as I am removing more trees to open up the garden a bit and I would like to dismantle and re-build the waterfall close to the pond with no stream.This will mean digging up pipework (ruining the grass even more) and re-routing pipes and cables.The waterfall in its present location and the stream are constantly getting leaves in them and are a nightmare to get out,it is a constant job.The leaves rot and get in the pond which is not good for the fish and gives the pond more nutrients to grow algae and blanket weed....another nightmare!.
I have not been able to run the pumps to the filters and waterfall (which would help with the algae and blanket weed) for a few months as I have small fish and tadpoles in the pond.The pumps will suck upto 10mm solids so all the tadpoles will get killed.I have 3 fully grown frogs which are great at keeping the mosquitoes down,so I would like a few of the tadpoles to mature to assist in this.
If I did not have the water feature I would not have so many mosquitoes in the garden in the first place! (bit of a vicious circle really).
I have joined this site in the hopes of getting a few more ideas on how to re-design what I have,and more ideas of what plants to put where.I do feel I need more plants in the garden and not just in pots and troughs.I love Alpines and rockeries and have always got a few Alpines in the garden
At times I wish I had a bigger garden,especially after seeing some on here and what people have done with them.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated