The 'big' pond measures about 12 x 5ft, divided into two areas by a cherry tree stump, pictured on the right. The right hand end is a shallow area, with the deepest part just left of the stump.
In making the pond, I first dug a hole and used the soil to build up raised banks. The hole was lined with carpet and sand before adding the pond liner. I then put a layer of felt pond underlay on top of the liner.
The felt extends up onto the bank. This has allowed the pond edges to become covered with moss and other plants, and has meant that there is no shiny pond liner in sight anywhere. The picture on the left shows part of the pond edge.
Turfs were laid around much of the bank to cover the liner and felt edges. Rocks were also used along about a quarter of the bank.
The felt liner was white in colour when new, so I rubbed our clay soil into those parts that were exposed around the edges.
I needed to join pieces of felt together to completely cover the bottom of the pond, but I did make a mistake when doing this. I must have used a cotton thread to do the 'sewing' and it has since rotted away. This means that in a couple of places the joins have separated and need to be restitched.
The use of the felt means that capillary action draws water out of the pond and keeps the soil around the edges damp. The vegetation benefits from this, but I have to regularly check the water levels in the big pond.
Click here to see a diagram of the water catchment arrangement
The caravan shelter, or my BP Garage as Sheila calls it, serves a triple purpose. Apart from the obvious one of protecting the caravan, it also serves as a covered work area if needed and, more importantly as a water catchment area for the big pond. The overflow from this water butt, and another behind the workshop shed is directed into the pond by an underground pipe so that whenever it rains there is a flow of water into the pond.
The caravan also provides a hide from which to watch the activities around the pond.
The ropes over the top of the shelter are a winter precaution against high winds. During the 1987 storm my garden gained a car port from five houses away!
This
is the small pond.
It is one of those plastic moulded ponds. The far end is actually
buried under soil and flag irises grow there, giving a great
splash of colour in the summer.
This pond is used a lot by the frogs, although spawn is never
produced in it. In the spring there is a non-stop movement of
frogs between the ponds across the narrow path (pictured on the
right) that separates them.
