We bought a section of garden from one of the neighbours last year which we have been slowly changing. A large part of it will be a koi pond which is being hand dug due to lack of access for a mechanical digger (even the small micro diggers will not fit) This is where we are up to. More pics on the blog http://alternativeeden.blogspot.com/2011/03/diggers-high.html Hoping to have the rest of it dug out and get the concrete base in by the end of April, then the building work can get started!
Looks an interesting project look forward to following the thread ..Is going to be above ground level when finished or not ? Dave
The pond will be partly above ground. We are going down 2-3 feet and up about 4, with the concrete base that should give us a water depth of about 6feet. The ground level in front of the pond will be raised slightly to use some of the spoil and give a nice area to sit and watch the fish.
Oh, well done guys ... that really looks like slave labour but I guess it warms you up on those chilly days. Where is this located? ... behind the tropics? Looking forward to watching the progress and more importantly seeing the finished project. xx
Looks like some hard work has been done there Gaz. Not decided to go for a swimming pool instead yet, then?:D
That is some heavy labour there TG. I hadn't realised you were on chalk, same as me. It is really tough stuff to break up and move. I have to wear safety specs when I'm using the pickaxe because of the flints, you never can tell when you're going to hit one and then splinters of flint fly all over. Keep us posted it does look an interesting project.
Hi Pete - Not a swimming pool, but that would be fun! On various Koi forums I look in on, most pond builders normally have a dip once its full of water before the fish go in. Victoria - this is a spur to the right hand side of the existing garden. Once its finished there will be raised beds conecting this part to the 'older' garden. The general planting theme will be exotic again, although we are toying with a few different ideas. Possibly going for a slight japanese feel - although not full on. John we are on clay over chalk, which has been interesting, the clay on most of the garden is acidic, with the alcaline chalk below. With the raised beds we have avoided putting much of the chalk in and will top up with acidic compost etc and have a try with magnolia and rhododendron, both of which prefer the acid soil, so by raising up to a decent level we should get away with it. In other parts of the garden magnolias have done well for us in raised areas, so the chalk hasnt been a problem in that respect. The pile of chalk scrapings to between the fence and hole will be leveled once the pond wall is built and compacted to put a decked area over. With the difficulty over access we had wanted to avoid having to shift the spoil to the front as well as avoid the cost of skips, there is something like 20 cubic meters of soil coming out in total. We probably wont avoid needing a couple of skips however.
