Garden Progress

My new wildlife pond

 

While I was looking after Reg and the cats back in late April my team of builders returned to put in some concrete infrastructure in my garden. Since I got the first shed, nearly two years ago, I have wanted another one to site at the bottom of the garden where I can store garden tools and chicken feed and bedding. I also wanted to replace and extend the cracked and uneven concrete path from the back door to two thirds of the way down the garden and put in footings for an 8 foot x 10 foot greenhouse (also on my future wish list). I felt that once these major bits of construction had happened the garden could be left to settle and repair itself with no more mini diggers, stump grinders etc to dig up and/or compact the soil.

The old path

The new extended path

During one early morning discussion I also decided to let the builders put a concrete hard standing area between the back of the existing shed and the front of the proposed green house. I had originally thought to extend the paving slabs from under the shed but the guys persuaded me that it would be far easier to lay a concrete slab, especially as they had a large concrete lorry turning up the next morning to pour all the rest of the concrete!

Area designated for greenhouse

Greenhouse footings and hard standing

The previous year, when I had some more mini digger work done, I had created the beginnings of a wildlife pond, roughly rectangular in shape with a gently shelving beach area. However, I felt that the slope could be extended a little more so Steve, the builder, who is a maestro on a mini digger, kindly obliged.

At about the same time as this work was going on, my next door neighbour put up his new fence which has really defined the right hand edge of my garden. Unfortunately, it has put paid to our chats over the previous non-existent fence but at least we won't distract each other when we're out in our gardens and he doesn't have to constantly look at my slightly unkempt garden!

Neighbour's new fence-in-waiting!

About a month after the builders had finished, my brother came to stay for a long weekend. I asked him what he would like to do while he was here – we could visit Wells Cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace, Glastonbury, go for walks on Mendip, but he said he wanted to garden! He knew there were several jobs in the garden that I couldn’t tackle by myself and, when he saw the hole in the ground, he said, ”Let’s do the pond!”

The pond begins

Beginning the fill

I’d bought the liner and under liner some time last year so everything we needed was to hand, and so we set to. Of course, this happened to be the unseasonably hot, dry period in May and the pond area was in full sun for most of the day, but he was determined to get it at least to the stage where we could introduce water. Getting the levels right was the most difficult thing as the site sloped slightly from one side of the pond to the other and it was crucial to get that right so that the pond liner was not exposed more on one side than the other and that the overflow was where I wanted it to be. We finally got it to the point where I was happy with it (!) and then lifted the under liner and then the liner into place. My intention had been to fill the pond using stored rainwater from my water butts but they were a distance away from the pond and there wasn’t enough in them so we partially filled using watering cans but also connected the hose to the outside tap – it took ages to fill! We buried the edges of the liner in a shallow trench around the perimeter and back filled with soil and Rich started to dig the bog garden area into which the overflow from the pond will go, but it was just too hot to continue and the weekend was nearly over, so that was how we left it.

The finished construction

A few weeks later Jeni came up and we built the beach area using bought bags of cobbles and shingle. We also bought a few pond plants and within days, we noticed small bugs and beasties already colonising the pond. We even had a visiting pair of dragonflies checking out the neighbourhood whilst we were constructing the beach and were amazed when the female dipped her abdomen into the water, a sure sign that she was egg-laying! Since then the male has been an almost permanent fixture, chasing off any other dragonfly intruders, although I did see a beautiful green female Emperor Dragonfly also laying her eggs in the pond. It’s all really exciting and I’m looking forward to the arrival of some larger pond dwellers once it has matured a bit and I have more plants in place.

The beach area and some plants

4-spot Chaser Dragonfly (male)

Green Emperor Dragonfly (female)

The wet weather, followed by the hot dry spell has meant that all the weeds and grass have shot away and the garden looks pretty jungle-like, especially in the bottom third, designated the wildflower meadow and orchard area. I’ve been hampered in my activities by a recurring back problem since the beginning of June, but I did manage to get my scythe out at one point and made some inroads into the abundant growth. I enjoy scything , even though I’m no expert, as it is a quiet, rhythmic occupation and you can achieve a lot in a short time, as long as you sharpen the blade every few minutes. I really do think, at times, that I was born in the wrong century!

In other news, we finally completed on the sale of Mum’s house at the beginning of June, more than twelve months after it first went on the market. This was a huge relief but also rather sad as I now have no reason to return to the town of my birth or visit my childhood haunts, except in my memories. ☹

Guarding his territory from his lookout post!