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Next year, many of the plants came
back even better than before, especially the herbs around the upper
pond. But I was having to top off the water awfully frequently.
I attributed this to the large amount of evaporation, because it was
really a very hot summer. But then, one morning, I was horrified to
find the lower pond almost empty! I've had frequent night-mares
about it ever since. I refilled it, turned off the pump, and left it
overnight to try to determine whether the leak was in the upper pond or
the lower pond. |
An aquatic Canna in the upper pond; in the background is dwarf
papyrus.
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The next day, it was confirmed. Again, the lower pond was almost
empty, and the upper pond was full. This was not evaporation - this
was a leak, and low down in my pre-formed liner. There was nothing
for it but to replace it, and quickly. I put Pip and Emma in the
upper pond in the meantime, with as many of the plants as I could fit, and
started to dig.
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| Did I mention that this was a hot summer? It was also the hottest
week of the summer. I had been planning to extend the pond anyway,
so I dug out a 20' by 10' section to the left of the original pond, put in
a rubber liner, and started to fill. It took almost a whole day to
fill with water (it had taken a week to dig). Finally, Pip and Emma
had a new home; Where the old lower pond had been I put in a shallow
(because I was almost out of rubber) intermediate level, just for plants. |
The new lower pond, before bordering.
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Although it was already very late in the season,
I needed a new water lily to help take up the space in this huge pond, so
I got a tropical, night-blooming variety. It only ever produced one
bloom before the season was over, but it was a beauty! |
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| It took three tons of rock to border
the new ponds and make the water fall and stream sections, plus a new pump
to be able to move the requisite amount of water. In the end, I used
two pumps: one large one taking from the bottom of the big pond and going
into the top pond, and a small one from the middle pond to a spitter in
the upper pond. |
The middle pond, with water fall on the right, and stream on the
left. The spitter can be seen above the upper pond.
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