Saga of the pond

Come summer all will be forgiven I bet, looking like lots of potential there

Gosh, I did enjoy that blog! It was better than the magazines! I loved the way your impatience, frustration and excitement came out in your descriptive words. I have to say though...what a result! Absolutely superb. I am sad to say there is no animal life evident in my pond du to the same problem. I might have a go withthe fishing twine eventually...certainly if I ever get any frogspawn. Well done though...brilliant job. :)

stunning.
wonderful blog and I look forward to seeing it as it matures etc.

It looks wonderful we'll worth the cursing and hard work. For future if drill holes in stumps and pour baking soda it will rot and get rid of the stump. My friend years ago had a very large heavy metal grid cut to shape to fit over the top of her pond to prevent herons getting her fish.

Many congratulations for going for it, visualising it and putting up with it! Its going to be wonderful - so looking forward to seeing it int he summer!(And what a bonus to have that as a view from the kitchen window - you'll have every one of us envious...)

too bad about the poor bird...and the pump's demise. The result of all your work and worry is fabulous, though! I especially like the waterfall and the gunnera~ can't wait to see that develop in the weeks to come. I have to ask: is that one of the "girls"..with her beak in the water? I thought so at first glance but she hadn't moved since the previous picture... stone or concrete? lol... How are the birds? ..is dear Boris still with you?
I've probably told you about my niece's solution for herons in her pond? she bought a very lifelike 'gator! and it worked on her 'pteradactyls' ! She was determined to protect her expensive koi... and she did admit that the gator was a good deterent.. fully jointed and looked quite real and it fooled the herons because the jointed tail and head seemed to move with the gentle current from the pump and bubbler.
It's so exciting to see it coming to life... my "pond" is still under 2 ft of snow... longest winter on record... (trying to be philosophical) :-((
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Oh wow, loved the alligator!!

Love your pond and your account of its construction.

Our pond is empty of life at the moment and I think it's going to stay that way. We have spent so much on Koi carp in the past and seen the pond depleted by heron who find us whatever impediment we place in their way/sight.
In any case have little time now for the pond, or for gardening, so for us it's a case of enjoying what there is.

Doesn't help that there is a swan sanctuary not far over the nature reserve. Guess the heron are attracted to the water there.

It looks absolutely lovely! I’m just about to rebuild lien for the second year in a row! Are you having plants in the pond too?! Waterlilies would look fab in there

Hopefully Grandad gardener with the summer and the extra flowers, Gunnera and reeds I shall forget how annoying he really was and just admire the pond. Though it will grieve me to admit what he said was right about loving it when it's done!

Thanks Karen, I try to make my blogs interesting and I'm glad you could see how frustrated I was with him. All the plan was in his head, but you do like to have a rough idea of what you are paying for - don't you?
We have frogs in the drainage ditch beside us, you can hear them calling, but we have never had any in the pond before, perhaps because it was a raised one. If we did get them now, would the fish leave the spawn or tadpoles alone?

Not sure about the stunning bit yet Seaburn, but it's a work in progress and hopefully it will improve with time. The birds still come to bathe and find it easier now than balancing on the water weed as they used to.

We would have poisoned the stump Thrupenny but we wanted it out of the way. It must have been years old and used to spread eight feet along the side of the oil tank and five feet the other way. Plus shooting upwards at least ten feet! It may have been a specimen plant once, or part of a hedge, but like most of the shrubs and trees when we moved in, it was neglected. Not heard the one about baking soda, it would certainly be cheaper than the stump killer we bought for something else! As for the metal grid, the pond is miles too big to do that with, 20ft x 15ft, or somewhere there!

The thing was Stera, that as it WAS the view from the kitchen window, it was depressing looking at it. It started with I'll spend about £3.000 getting it tidied, then it crept up, and up, but when you get to my age, everything has to be done NOW, I just don't have the luxury of waiting for years - I might not be here!

It is a shame Lori when us humans manage to kill things on the roads, living in the countryside it's not an uncommon sight unfortunately. The bird peering in the water is a ceramic duck, probably a 'shelf sitter' originally and bought from a thrift shop, but it has to come in for the winter. It used to sit on the wall of the old pond, but OH wandered round until he found just the right level of rock to put it on. Love the idea of a life-size articulated Alligator, but would our English Herons recognise a predator that they had never seen? Can't believe that you still have so much snow!

If your pond is still in existence Eirlys, I am sure that there is some life in it, dragonflies, water beetles and such like, so though it might not have your Koi any longer it will be doing it's bit for the native wild life, water to drink and bathe as well for the birds. We are not far from the Welney Wetlands Centre where they have hundreds of swans and we are on their flight path, so we see them fly over and hear them at night as well. Last year we had hundreds of them on the field beside us gleaning the sugar beet remains and one of the volunteers came and spied on them from our field, trying to find one particular swan!

Thanks Dan, as I said it can only improve I hope. We put in the lilies that were in the old pond, but the fish have uprooted most of them, though we thought we had planted them properly! Some are still surviving in their baskets so hopefully we will get some coverage of the pond surface. Also some of the weed was saved and some weed for aeration. Best of luck with your rebuild, hopefully we will see some pics.

Honeysuckle, I've never mixed frogs & fish, the fish will eat the tadpoles although a few will be missed for passing herons to eat;-)

I did wonder GrandadGardener whether they would mix! Perhaps the frogs will know better than me and go for the other pond without the fish.

Your pond looks wonderful now, well worth all that hard work I'm sure. I gave up on fish years ago because the heron used to pop into the garden at about 11am everyday for a snack before lunch in the park ponds. Masses of frogs now which I prefer.

Thanks Ginellie, hopefully it can only improve. the plants have to contend with the clay soil we have here which wasn't improved when they dug out the pond as it just has even heavier subsoil with it. Saw the Heron yesterday, don't think it landed, but was scouting it out I'm sure!

I have always enjoyed your blogs Honey, this time you have surpassed yourself, I thoroughly enjoyed all of it, could feel your frustration with matey and his "no plan but you will love it" answer but do see what he meant, it looks a treat with what you have already placed and think what it's going to look like when that Gunnera struts its stuff, your plants start to spread and you add even more, which obviously you will.
With the pond being so big I don't know the answer as regards protection, much too big for a net to be any use really so guess you have to persevere with the twine, shame about the heron, living where you are no doubt another will soon find its way, here in my garden the frogs do go in both ponds, we do get tadpoles every year in the bottom one but the fish enjoy a feast in the other one, sometimes if I'm lucky I get there first with my net to transfer the spawn, other times nature takes its course. Looking forward to seeing all of it as the time passes Honey, enjoy it all, in my opinion it really was worth it...

Thanks Lincslass, I saw the Heron a couple of days ago. Now whether it had landed and didn't get in, or whether it was in the process, I don't know. Just saw it as it swooped back over the barn, but do get paranoid about it all. Even during the day when I am weeding and there is a huge splash in the pond, I have to dash and look! Knowing it's not the Heron I have visions of an Otter or Mink creating havoc - but it's only the big fish which jump right out of the water and make a heck of a splash.
I go and look lovingly at the Gunnera which seems to have survived the harsh root trimming that the previous owner gave it, but can't wait to see it throw out some big leaves. At least it will cover some of that ghastly Leylandii which are now just stems really with the branches on the outside still green and giving some protection.
I have planted two Hydrangeas and the Snowball Viburnum at the back to block some of it, plants that grew on their own and needed a home.

Hi honeysuckle! I was reading the comments above and remembered that I read somewhere that in large ponds there is often a shelter built into the side of the pond, or on a ledge, in deeper water where small fry may hide and (in my climate) it's a place for overwintering. My pond is nowhere near the size of yours but I used the 4ft depth and a large chimney flue (ceramic, approx 24 x 8) as a shelter spot, which can be camouflaged with reeds or water plants.. Wonder if this might be of some help?

That's a good idea Lori, I have various pots and things that would look fine in the pond and as you say could be camouflaged, just the job for those clay pipes my daughter off-loaded onto me!

serendipity!

I have conifers at the back of our bottom pond, they need lopping, they act as a windbreak, also provide shade for me and my precious Acers, I have been tying the lover branches together for years now to form an arch hoping to hide the dead looking bits, don't want to remove them as they hide my cubby, its where I hide compost bins, wheelbarrow, spare bits and bobs, also overwinter anything that needs a bit of protection but not in the greenhouse, in other words Honey, it hides a multitude of sins, lol...