friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
Operation gunnera complete. Soon the whole village will be in shade
Pond life
- Thread starter not-bono-ever
- Start date
Operation gunnera complete. Soon the whole village will be in shade
Gerry1time
Did a wee in Dirac's toilet
Fabulous, thank you! Lots to Google there...
So the bog garden part of the pond is now lined...
...and filled in. It took about 1000 litres of coir, and 720 litres of compost made from stuff from our garden over the last couple of years. Wood chippings, weeds, turf layers with grasses on, that kind of stuff. I was going to mix it all up, but there was so much and it was all so heavy that I just did a big layer of coir at the bottom, put all the compost on top of it, then added a thinner layer of coir over the top. I suspect it's going to rot down and settle some more over time, so when I've got the overflow pipe from the pond running into a leaky hose spread around the bog garden, I'll probably add another layer of coir over the top of that to cover it up and help keep the moisture in.
The two planks running across the pond in the second picture are to build a frame for the safety net that's going to cover the whole pond. Just need to get that built, then line the whole thing, then it's ready for planting up!
Gerry1time
Did a wee in Dirac's toilet
Nice! Looks like a good spot for it. Is that your natural topsoil by the way? Am jealous if so!Operation gunnera complete. Soon the whole village will be in shade
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
Yep. It's like black gold mate. It's one of the things that has really pleased the pair of us with buying this old crumbling wreck
We're on the edge of a wood and the worms have been doing their thing for ever.The elderly couple who lived in this place since the 70's kept a cottage garden that was the talk of the village apparently. It's clearly been exposed to traditional horticulture.
When we got the place it had been left to ruin for about 6 years apart from the lawn getting cut whilst it was up for sale. The stuff that turns up in the garden is amazing though.
The gaff dates back to 1840 and you can't dig anywhere without finding pottery, bottles or clay pipes but the soil containing those treasures is like John Innes number 3.
Gerry1time
Did a wee in Dirac's toilet
That's phenomenal. I'd be surprised if the land usage didn't date back further and part of the soil condition and large amount of pottery is from nightsoil / farmyard sweepings being dumped there for a very long time. Most people think red / orange pottery especially is broken victorian flower pots, but often it can be medieval or earlier. I've had a good lot of medieval pottery just from digging this pond.
Gerry1time
Did a wee in Dirac's toilet
So the pond progresses! First up I've built a wooden frame to go over the top of it, to string a really strong net across as a safety thing for the kids. It's actually two frames, one big one for the deep bit which will be on pretty permanently, and a smaller one for the front that will lift up on hinges for when we want to go pond dipping.
Then I lined it with underlay...
...then liner....
...then filled it!
Going to leave it to settle for a few days, then trim round the liner, put the frame and net over it, then start adding plants. Marvellous.
Then I lined it with underlay...
...then liner....
...then filled it!
Going to leave it to settle for a few days, then trim round the liner, put the frame and net over it, then start adding plants. Marvellous.
Gerry1time
Did a wee in Dirac's toilet
Done some more work on the pond, much of which is sort of not visible, but still. The liner's been trimmed all round and the loose ends tucked in down the side of the sleepers that form the pond. I've also put about half a ton of stones and gravel in there. Some big stones to form a floor for the deep bit at the back, and a load of smaller pebbles in the shallower shelf at the front, which will take the depth there right down so things can get in and out. The pond plants have arrived too, but typically, the pots and aquatic compost for them haven't. Am waiting on getting those in, then I can spread the gravel out some more, after which the pond itself will be pretty done for now. Am going to wait for plants and general nature to establish themselves a bit before adding snails and fish. Some nature has arriven already though, in the form of pond skippers and diving beetles! No idea how they found it, but I'm glad they did.
Also, that white wrapped up thing to the left of the photo may possibly be a plastic tube with stand, which will be full of water but stick out of the pond, so the fish can swim up into it and say hello
Also, that white wrapped up thing to the left of the photo may possibly be a plastic tube with stand, which will be full of water but stick out of the pond, so the fish can swim up into it and say hello
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
We've got lots of water lilies. When we moved in here our pond had been left to itself for 6 years and the water lilly in it had grown so large it had grown through the basket it was in and filled the pond. It took two of us to lift it out of the pond.
We spilt it after watching a noobtube video and ended up with 20 plants some of which we gave away and then we kept some for ourselves. They all flowered the same year.
I've also put some lotus flower seeds in which have grown on and are starting to come up again this year. You can get those cheap on ebay. Look for pre-drilled ones as these are a doddle to sprout.
Lilies expensive in garden centres though with most charging £15 upwards for a small plant but it's really easy to cut a rhizome off from someone else's and start your own.
On the tadpole front you're probably better establishing your pond for a year first before you rehouse any spawn that's healthy. The stuff in my pond is already near tadpole stage with the recent sunshine warming the water up. Chlorine in the water and lack of biodiversity will not be a welcome new home for this years spawn.
You can make a pond with so little effort though. There's loads of info on mini ponds on the net using all sorts of everyday items.
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
That's looking fab mateDone some more work on the pond, much of which is sort of not visible, but still. The liner's been trimmed all round and the loose ends tucked in down the side of the sleepers that form the pond. I've also put about half a ton of stones and gravel in there. Some big stones to form a floor for the deep bit at the back, and a load of smaller pebbles in the shallower shelf at the front, which will take the depth there right down so things can get in and out. The pond plants have arrived too, but typically, the pots and aquatic compost for them haven't. Am waiting on getting those in, then I can spread the gravel out some more, after which the pond itself will be pretty done for now. Am going to wait for plants and general nature to establish themselves a bit before adding snails and fish. Some nature has arriven already though, in the form of pond skippers and diving beetles! No idea how they found it, but I'm glad they did.
View attachment 315985
Also, that white wrapped up thing to the left of the photo may possibly be a plastic tube with stand, which will be full of water but stick out of the pond, so the fish can swim up into it and say hello
Loving all the different levels and the bog garden part. It's going to look amazing when it gets established.
I've been dredging mine today a bit as I let a lot of leaf-fall unattended to over the winter. I counted 8 newts, six frogs and some wonderful looking dragonfly nymph as well as about 3 million water boatmen and assorted bugs.
I dragged the leaf to the shallow end a had a brew watching everything crawling back in.
You're gonna have some real fun watching what turns up
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
I'll post some pics next time I get some orange pottery. I've always told the Mrs it's Roman just for the lols but you're probably right. There's loads of it in the soil.
weltweit
Well-Known Member
I had a great pond.
2 carp, 4 smaller goldy fish and many smaller again
three or four italian frogs which left us after some time
A pump that wasn't too reliable and often needed maintenance
I was a little worried a Heron might find us and come down for breakfast - wondered what I could do about it, a mesh of steel over the water could have done it - I didn't get around to it and the Heron never came.
Moved away, shame.
2 carp, 4 smaller goldy fish and many smaller again
three or four italian frogs which left us after some time
A pump that wasn't too reliable and often needed maintenance
I was a little worried a Heron might find us and come down for breakfast - wondered what I could do about it, a mesh of steel over the water could have done it - I didn't get around to it and the Heron never came.
Moved away, shame.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
Gerry1time
Did a wee in Dirac's toilet
That's looking fab mate
Loving all the different levels and the bog garden part. It's going to look amazing when it gets established.
I've been dredging mine today a bit as I let a lot of leaf-fall unattended to over the winter. I counted 8 newts, six frogs and some wonderful looking dragonfly nymph as well as about 3 million water boatmen and assorted bugs.
I dragged the leaf to the shallow end a had a brew watching everything crawling back in.
You're gonna have some real fun watching what turns up
Thanks! Am getting happier with it. All but one of the bog garden plants went in today. There's betony, water mint, cotton grass, cowslip, water avens, golden sedge, ragged robin and a big white hosta in there. Along with another 250 litres of cheap compost to top it up after the original filling had settled. I banked on cheap compost being a rough mix of chipped and spongey rotting wood and so forth, and it didn't disappoint, which was great. Just waiting on some devil's bit scabious turning up, along with the pots and aquatic compost for the pond plants, then the whole thing, bog garden and pond, will be planted up and ready to establish a bit.
Am also pleased to have some willow in there at the back of the bog garden too. The willow came from a place very special to me that one of my kids is named after, from a patch of willow that's been growing there since at least the early 1700's, and very likely earlier. We took her to visit the place one summer, and whilst we were there a tractor knocked a few sticks out of the willow patch right in front of us. It seemed like a sign, so I grabbed them, grew them on it pots, now they've got their own home in our bog garden. Am particularly pleased with that bit of it.
Do! The rule with garden pottery is pick up and pocket every and any bit you find, then soak them in a pot of water for a few hours, before giving them a gentle brushing with a toothbrush under running water, then dry them thoroughly and photograph. You need to see them clean and dry to see what their true pattern (if any) and fabric colour / material is. You literally never know if pottery is old or interesting or not until it's washed. Pocket everything, wash it, and only discount it once you've seen it clean and dry.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
Apparently there are several alien species in the south of the UK - one of them for an unusual reason ...
www.smithsonianmag.com
Doctors Used to Use Live African Frogs As Pregnancy Tests
Now, those former test subjects may be spreading the deadly amphibian chytrid fungus around the world
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
The Marsh marigold has really come on this year in the gravel filter. This was a small plant I nicked from a National Trust pond bank. I always take a small trowel and some zip lock bags with me
It's a lovely early spring bloomer and then if you're lucky it will bloom again later in the summer. Great for removing excessive nutriants from the pond water.
Last edited:
Gerry1time
Did a wee in Dirac's toilet
Love it. I may have been known to carry pots, compost and rooting hormone in the car. Just in case anyone ever asks to borrow any like.I always take a small trowel and some zip lock bags with me
dessiato
🇪🇸 my spirit is crying for leaving
I need one of those diggers! Such fun could be had.
dessiato
🇪🇸 my spirit is crying for leaving
I’ve just found a mini digger for hire near me in Scotland. Very affordable, and looks a good place to start.
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
That's my automn project after I've taken off and relaid the slate roof. I've got a bank to terrace and one of those is going to do the job quite nicely.
bimble
floofy
So far, work has consisted of laying out a long bit of white rope on the lawn in the shape of an imagined pond and fiddling about with it contentedly for quite a long time. And reading about Bog Plants on the internet. It's going to be brilliant, one day, there will be dragonflies.
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
Monty Don did an easy guide to bog gardening on one of the recent Gardeners worlds. A bog garden is really easy to achieve
bimble
floofy
friedaweed a question about your gravel system stack thing, is it that you have a pump moving water around through the filtering system round back into pond all of the time ?
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
Yeah it was basically down to me dicking about because I now had a house that had a pond in it.
It's a very simple idea that I got from browsing the web on bog filers and read beds. I was gutting and re-plumbing the house at the time before we moved in so I used it as a distraction on sunny days. I also had a lot of plastic pipe and fittings from the plumbing escapades and that got me thinking.
Basically I found two old Belfast/Butler sinks hanging around in the overgrown garden and a sprinkler pump that I found at the bottom of the pond that I was amzed to find still worked.
I spent weeks plotting how I could make a water feature out of the sinks that I could grow plants in and clean the pond at the same time. The Mrs thought I was totally bonkers at at the time but it worked really well in the end.
The pond had been left unattended for over 6 years and the water was black. It was full of nature and we didn't want to change that but I got a bit nerdy on the idea of growing bog plants in the sinks and I was not to be deterred.
After lots of sitting there looking at the sinks, enjoying a break from knocking walls down and ripping floors up, I had a eureka moment and figured I could exploit the fact that Belfast sinks have a built in overflow that runs directly to the trap. With a gravel system you want the water to flow up through the gravel trapping the sediment and nutrients in the gravel bed so the plants can feed off them and slowly clean your water and then flow out into the pond. The sprinkler pump provided just enough power to pump the water up into the top sink and then gravity did the rest
The water from the pump enters the top sink through a pipe that runs down to the bottom of the gravel bed and seeps though holes that I drilled in the pipe. The water then flows up through the gravel and then down the overflow and empties into the bottom sink. The top sink has a plug in it so the water doesn't run directly out, but this doesn't stop the overflow from functioning.
The same thing then happens in the bottom sink. The water flows out the waste of the upper sink into a pipe that runs down to the bottom of the lower sink and then seeps out through holes in the pipe and runs up through the gravel and then down the overflow. It then empties into the pond via a little waterfall I made out of an old baking tray that I dug out of the garden.
Fledglings sit on the water chute and drink the water so it must be clean enough for them.
After six weeks the pond water started clearing and I felt as smug as fuck.
It cost me 6 bags of gravel, a few plumbing fittings and some off-cuts of pipe and about 300 hours of scratching my head
Once it's running you just stick the plants in and watch them grow. I've had to divide some of the plants because they grow really quick but then I've ended up with plants for the pond and the bog garden.
Basically it works like this.
Like I said. I was just dicking about
But it works.
Gerry1time
Did a wee in Dirac's toilet
I think, possibly, perhaps, the pond is done for now! I got the plants planted up into their aquatic compost pots today. Here are some of the dramatis personae in that regard ready to go.
This one is two dwarf water lillies and some marsh st johns wort...
... whilst this is water forget me not and iris. Didn't quite have enough gravel in the end to cover all of the pots, but will get some more soon. Other plants in the pond include bog bean, water starwort, greater spearwort and old man's arse.
I got all of the pots in, and added some more stones at the front to build a ramp out of the pond for creatures and that. Am slightly bothered that I might have filled up the shallow shelf with too many stones, but it's still 20cm depth all over at least, and in many places a bit deeper, so it's probably fine. It's just odd seeing something you spent so long digging all filled up again I guess.
Finally I finished off the wooden frame for the net. The smaller front section is now hinged to the larger back section, so it can lift back for pond dipping, and is also raised up by 5cm at the front, so creatures can get in and out of the pond if they need to, but children are still prevented from falling / getting in. The whole front frame is hasped and padlocked to the sleeper body of the pond too, so it can't be lifted up. Got the final devil's bit scabious planted in the bog garden too.
So I think, for now, the pond is done. I'm going to let everything settle in a bit, then in a few weeks maybe look at adding some fish and snails. I've already seen two pond skippers turn into eight or so adult pond skippers with some baby ones as well, and one diving beetle has now become a decent number of them. So things are finding the pond, fingers crossed lots more will over time too!
Anyone spot anything glaringly obvious I've missed or done wrong?
This one is two dwarf water lillies and some marsh st johns wort...
... whilst this is water forget me not and iris. Didn't quite have enough gravel in the end to cover all of the pots, but will get some more soon. Other plants in the pond include bog bean, water starwort, greater spearwort and old man's arse.
I got all of the pots in, and added some more stones at the front to build a ramp out of the pond for creatures and that. Am slightly bothered that I might have filled up the shallow shelf with too many stones, but it's still 20cm depth all over at least, and in many places a bit deeper, so it's probably fine. It's just odd seeing something you spent so long digging all filled up again I guess.
Finally I finished off the wooden frame for the net. The smaller front section is now hinged to the larger back section, so it can lift back for pond dipping, and is also raised up by 5cm at the front, so creatures can get in and out of the pond if they need to, but children are still prevented from falling / getting in. The whole front frame is hasped and padlocked to the sleeper body of the pond too, so it can't be lifted up. Got the final devil's bit scabious planted in the bog garden too.
So I think, for now, the pond is done. I'm going to let everything settle in a bit, then in a few weeks maybe look at adding some fish and snails. I've already seen two pond skippers turn into eight or so adult pond skippers with some baby ones as well, and one diving beetle has now become a decent number of them. So things are finding the pond, fingers crossed lots more will over time too!
Anyone spot anything glaringly obvious I've missed or done wrong?
spring-peeper
Well-Known Member
Quick question about the pond fish...do you bring them in during the winter?
dessiato
🇪🇸 my spirit is crying for leaving
No. Feed them to the cat, buy more next year.
