Pond Makeover

Without a "before" picture for comparison, it's perhaps difficult to show the extent of the remodelling of the garden's pond area, although the photograph of the frogspawn attached to my previous post of 1 March may give you some idea of its former look. Nevertheless, here's a photograph of it as it is now: enlarged, deepened, the front bank raised (with the help of the extra soil dug out) to the same level as the back, and new coping laid. We've also taken the opportunity to clear out the rubble deposit in the corner and lay down (re-using the old coping stones) some proper staging for the pot plants (where previously they were just plunked down on a convenient bit of level ground). The fence, where we've ripped out the old dark green ivy, looks a bit bare at present, but we have plans to plant some golden ivy to replace it. You may notice the netting laid over the bank at the front of the pond: this is to prevent the birds and the local cats from interfering with the new plants until they've become properly established.

We have been intending tp remodel the pond for some years now, because of a known pinhole leak somewhere in the upper part of the old liner, which necessitated its frequent topping up; the issue was always getting around to doing it. But this year, we were finally impelled to get on with it by the death od the tadpoles shortly after they'd hatched, presumably because of a sudden deterioration in the quality of the water. So we ordered a new liner, and in three days over Easter had installed a new and better pond. We are obviously getting very good at this pond-building lark, to have managed it in so short a time; but then, to be technical, this is the fourth one we've dug. (The allotment pond has also been redug and relined.) Of course, it probably helps if you start with an existing hole to work from....