Some Pond Links:
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Needless to say, I am very please with my pond. It
started in 1998: the back yard used to have an above-ground swimming pool,
with a raised deck. We took out the pool, because it was not
economical to repair it; this left us with a big round patch of dead earth
in the middle of the yard, in which Lee Ann planted a vegetable
garden. This left us with a raised deck to nowhere, which we
eventually took down, leaving another, strange-shaped dead patch next to
the deck. So I put in a pond. My first attempt used a
pre-formed plastic liner, and made most of the mistakes one can make on a
pond. For one thing, the liner was not properly supported. For
another, I put the pond in slightly below ground level, so when it rained
heavily, all the bark mulch around it washed into the pond. I also
killed our first set of fish, trying to cure them of a fungus that they
didn't have. |
The pond, with plants.
In the foreground is Lee Ann's butterfly garden pot.
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Upper and lower ponds. Lee Ann's vegetable garden can be seen in
the background.
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Then I went to a lecture (and practical) at the Norfolk
Botanical Gardens, and learned what I had done wrong. So I
bought more stuff, including a fibreglass pond and a pump, and lots of
topsoil and sand, and built an upper pond and waterfall. Now, with
aeration, the pond could support fish better, and I put thee fancy comets
in the upper pond, and two Sarasa
Comets in the lower pond. |
Close-up of the waterfall.
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Pip and Emma, and the water lily.
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We named the sarasa comets Pip and Emma, after the
characters in Agatha Christie's
A
Murder is Announced. Meanwhile, my one water lily was
blooming nicely. To cover the dirt around the upper pond I planted
herbs -- several types of thyme, some lavender, and rosemary. I also
planted creeping varieties of thyme and rosemary. |
Adrian enjoys watching Pip and Emma.
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