pond peopled

Some nice stones piled up would make a pretty ramp for the beasties Fran. :)

good thinking, Karen!!!!!!!!! I've got some stones, not so sure about "nice"!, but odd-shaped lumps and bits. they could at least form the base, and it could be finished with nicer stones - I've got some blue "glass chunks" that would be ideal, now you mention it

lol awarding you a Great Idea medal ....

:)) gratefully accepted! X

it seems so obvious - after you said it! I can put the sones in the lower left corner, which is a bit higher than the rest, and the extra weight might help it to settle a bit more.

I'll wash the stones; some are concrete lumps, not sure if that would affect the water, but only one way to find out. I may have enough to create enough of a mound elsewhere to for otter to take up a better position.

Endless possibilities, limited only by the imagination.. Thank goodness that GoY combined has such a massive databank!!

Of course! In that raised corner! :))

It's looking good, Fran. About 20 years ago I built something similiar when my little grandson won a goldfish! I put a thick knobbly short branch in for little creatures to go to and fro :)

I really want a pond now! Oh groan!.......

@ Gee - that's why my mum made a pond, my brother won a goldfish at the fair. she moaned a bit about how much that goldfish had cost over the yaers - more goldfish when that one died, food, lots more.

@ Karen - I'd never expected to get a pond, or one this size, and I wouldn't have but for the gardener giving it to me.

I'd been checking out mini-ponds, which was about all I could realistically imagine in my old place. There are zillions of suggestions - some are as small as a large bucket.

You ought to be able to find something that'll suit your space.

lol don't forget to blog the results!!

Oh....groan...the thought of all that digging...maybe next year Fran. I've had enough for one year, and I still have borders to dig out around the summerhouse next week!

You are very creative, Fran!

these are raised mini-ponds, Karen - even a bucket or half-barrel on the ground or paving,- no building needed - and no excavation.

Lol i was thinking of turning my inflatable ppol into a pond, but it'd need strong liner insdie and out to stop it getting punctured from "commuters"!

Thanks, Kat - but only in some directions, and only so far! luckily many heads are better than one

:-)

We ended up digging a real pond for the little fish, Fran, and he (and others) lasted many years. I was sorry to leave it when I moved.

that's a shame, Gee - and it's not exactly something yoiu can pack up and take with you! Did you bring the occupants with you? mind you, they'd have needed a pond all ready to move into, so it might have been better to leave them to the next people. Hope they looked after them.

It's a shame that moving house means losing all contact with prevous one - pity one can't ask the new owners to send you pics of how the gargen's looking since you moved, they might think ou were pressuring them

I remember a Titchmarsh garden makeover where they put in a long rectangle pond among other generous projects in the garden. When they returned to review the scene, the pond had been removed. Not a sign of it. Several children had fallen in! We had a tiny pond in our garden before this one. 3 visiting children, and a cat fell into it. Even that small one was a pain to maintain. We still loved it though, they are a boost to wildlife.Is that a baby croc next to your silver ball Fran?

ponds are lovely, but they do add risk for young - and old, come to that, who may not be too steady on their pins these days. That's why I've never thought of anything but a *raised* pond - at least, raided where it matters, where people are most likely to interact with it - along the front and a bit down each side. The rest could be made less accessible with sbrubs or gates to keep vulnerable people in the "safer" area - there's always a bit of risk when kids and water meet..

Water does have this strong attraction to children - lol children of all ages! When I was a Cub Leader we took the kids to a local cmapsite that had a stream: we told the boys to keep away from the water, we'd go down there later with adult superision - within ten minutes one kid had fllaen in - the only one not to bring a change of clothing!

And the smaller the pond, the more maintenance it needs. I did read an article about how large a pond has to be to be self-sustaining and self-regulating - can't remember the dimensions now, but remember thinking that that would almost qualify as a small lake.

That's a plastic lizard that I got from the same charity shop as the dragon - maybe at the same time! never thought of it as a croc - but it could be. miniature croc or life-size lizard?