Goodbye lawn. Hello pond!

More great pictures, looks so peaceful there.

 

Super job you have done with this project, one thing I would add is a willow tree...possibly down in Area "E" or just opposite the other side of the sea. I just think willows and water where designed to go together.

But its looking great as is, and your obviously enjoying the planting..:yho:...and so you should!

Steve...

 

beautiful pics - can't wait to see it this year throughout the seasons. Alot of hard work but really worth all the effort. If that was in my area all the local ducks would be in it. I have a tiny pond and they are never out of it - ducks sure do poop alot.

 

I'd love to have a couple of weeping willows Steve. They're actually my favourite tree but unfortunately I can't as their roots would crack the concrete walls of the pond. For the same reason I had to remove some apple trees left from the original lawned garden as some of their roots had become enormous. The fate of the Copper Beech hangs in the balance, although I've put in an underground concrete wall between it and the pond walls.

Here's a piccie of the bottom fountain icing up in the cold weather. (-11.6°C Friday night.)

 

oh my! thats a huge block of ice! do you have fish in the pond? actually, looking at your previous pics its more like a lake - beautiful, i love the water its so relaxing to watch

Loopy

 

Hi Marley,

I found that apple tree roots get VERY big as I had a 35 year Brambley Seedling with absolutely enormous roots that I had to cut down alongside the pond. The roots were 4" in diameter and wouldn't think twice about moseying their way through the concrete walls of our pond.

Acers, artistically, would suit the area to a T but I would have to research first as to how big the roots would get. I couldn't find any definitive reference book about tree roots. Some people in garden centres would say the root system is the same width as the foliage on the tree! How stupid is that? The roots of my flowering cherries, out in the front garden, go ALL the way across the garden. The roots of a cordyline go straight down to Australia and don't spread.

The other big problem with trees next to a pond is all the leaves that invariably prefer death by drowning than by flying over the wall to our neighbours' gardens. Leaves in a pond can be a big problem.

.

Hi Loops,

I don't want goldfish as I want the pond to be as natural as possible. I put in 10 sticklebacks, although this may have been a mistake as I believe they, newts and frogs don't get on. But still, I suppose, sticklebacks are part of the natural life around here. The trouble is, you can't see sticklebacks in the water, normally.

 

I totally missed this too, sorry.
What a wonderful pond Kindred. The frozen fountain picture is amazing!!

 

Update in February.

It's not looking good. The continuing hard frosts are decimating a lot of the plants. Cordylines appear to be gone. Phormiums are heaps of mush. Uvaria Nobilis, flattened mush. Loquat black. Fuschias not looking good. Some bamboos totally grey. Even the ivies are totally blackened and their leaves now falling off. My ferns are in a very sorry state as well.

The frosts have been relentless nearly every night, -11°, -8°, -6°, etc, etc,. It was balmy for a couple nights, though, when it only reached -1°! The frost has split hosepipes and three of my spray guns in the garage . It was 1963 when we last had such a continuous cold period. What a time to start a new garden!

 

I think the ferns, bamboos and ivy will be fine - they're hardy.

 

Keep your chin up Kindred. Im sure a lot of it will bounce back in the spring.:gnthb: 02

 

Fear not!

They will come back. Let's hope the slugs didn't dig down deep enough either:D

 

On the left, Hoheria Sexstylosa, no green inside the twigs when I break them.
At the front, one of the Yellow Wave Phormiums, looking pretty bad.
In the middle, Uvaria Nobilis; was black mush, now its grey mush.
Pic taken today.



All my ivy was burned to crisp so I've cut them down to the ground.
Cortaderia Richardii and an unknown type of Knipophia are OK though.