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Post by The witch on Feb 27, 2007 11:25:35 GMT 1
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Post by The witch on Feb 27, 2007 11:26:45 GMT 1
Sean would you be kind enough to post some photo's of your other 2 ponds pretty please?   |
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Post by plocket on Feb 27, 2007 11:40:22 GMT 1
Oh Sean they are lovely! How deep are they?
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Post by seanmckinney on Feb 27, 2007 19:44:56 GMT 1
The one above is about 18" deep with a couple of inches of mud on the bottom and a possible leak. This was to be a bog but became a lily pond, 2ft deep  this is the plant pond, the lily pond was the azolla covered thing to the left of the turf stack. I got rid of the azolla after a neighbours dog tried to walk on it, it got out ok but didnt like the dunking  this is the main fish pond 4ft deep about 1600gal in total and semi raised shell just about complete  the water table during the build  an inner liner to hold shuttering on place whilst the sloping shoreline is cast inside the proper liner  an early version of the finished pond  a leter version with plant bays added to the shore line and the electric heron fence  |
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Post by plocket on Feb 27, 2007 19:52:14 GMT 1
OMG they are BEAUTIFUL! I guess you like ponds then!!! They put my little water garden to shame - it's just a drop in the ocean compared to what you've got. One thing though - is there any chance you can take a sort of overview photo of the whole garden? That way I can get my head around where everything is. At the moment I kinda get the impression that most of the garden is given up to ponds but perhaps that isn't the case!
So are you keen on gardening generally or is it basically ponds for you?
Sorry about all the questions! ;D
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Post by seanmckinney on Feb 27, 2007 20:38:33 GMT 1
This is a google earth image,  the yellow is the area of the fish pond, the light blue is the lily pond, the white is the plant pond and the pink the wildlife pond. The place is my parents and I put the ponds in when I was looking after them. They are in care now so it remains to be seen what will be 'left' afterwards. If the place survives as mine I will fix the garden up to what it was when they were able bodied The N points to what I think is my neighbour. |
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Post by plocket on Feb 28, 2007 10:10:36 GMT 1
It looks as though you've got a fair bit of space to play around with then Sean. Is your house the one on the left, or the one just above your neighbour - fancy getting into the shot hey?
I wish I had more space so I could have a proper pond - I love yours and Ritas. My parents have a natural pond and what they call the formal pond, but neither have fish in, and the later only has a waterlily. They struggle a bit with both because neither are how they want them: the natural pond is too full of weeds and duckweed, and the formal pond is just too boring!
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Post by seanmckinney on Feb 28, 2007 19:18:23 GMT 1
Aye they are biggish gardens here, which is great when your a kid playing in them but not so great when thers work to be done in them. The house is the one at the left end of that curved path.
The 'house' 'above my neighbour's head is his garage/workshop.
Re your parents natural pond, if it's for wild life and mud lined I think the only way to let it be is let the 'weeds' ( what actual plants are they?) run loose. I think that way they establish a nutrient balance in the water which will control floaters like duckweed and azolla. When I first filled and planted the wildlife pond it was swamped with azolla, now with the other plants well established azolla and duckweed just about survive and I had to move the frogbit because it was only just ticking over
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Post by plocket on Feb 28, 2007 19:40:10 GMT 1
Yes it's a natural wildlife pond - they had some lovely newts, frogs and dragonflies last year and hope that they will return. The balance of the water in the pond is probably a bit suspect at the moment because they found it behind a row of leylandii trees around what they thought was the perimeter of the garden when they moved in a couple of years ago. Goodness knows what must have got in the water from the trees but at least they weren't pine needles! They've now removed the trees and dug a bit more of the pond out but it's entirely natural. I'll pass on your comment about leaving the plants - that's very useful. I think some of the invaders are grass and weeds from the lawn which naturally get into the water when the level rises. I know where to come with any more comments - thank you!
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Post by madonplants on Feb 28, 2007 23:10:01 GMT 1
They look great Sean. When you say a possible leak, how bad do you think it is? I wish I had your room for more ponds. Once my pond gets finished (waterfall and plants around, maybe I will put some pics on. As long as we are still here!
Keith
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Post by seanmckinney on Mar 1, 2007 10:43:52 GMT 1
The 'leak' was evident last year and maybe 4" a week, not evapouration. I will have to check things out though because I was running the srteam at the time and it may have been plant growth diverting the stream. There has been little sign of a leak since the stream was switched off for the winter but it has also rained quite a bit since then.
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Post by sweetleaf on Mar 1, 2007 10:47:54 GMT 1
4" a week over that area must have been a fair few gallons of water though .....sounds serious.  Hope you dont have to drain it to find out! Your ponds are fantastic Sean.  |
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Post by plocket on Mar 1, 2007 14:19:41 GMT 1
That's a heck of a lot of water Sean. I hope it's not as serious as a leak and that you get the problem sorted, if there is now a problem.
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Post by The witch on Mar 1, 2007 17:20:40 GMT 1
The 'leak' was evident last year and maybe 4" a week, not evapouration. I will have to check things out though because I was running the srteam at the time and it may have been plant growth diverting the stream. There has been little sign of a leak since the stream was switched off for the winter but it has also rained quite a bit since then. Fingers crossed that what ever the cause of the leak, it can be fixed easily. |
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Post by seanmckinney on Mar 1, 2007 23:14:50 GMT 1
there will be a lot of muttering  if I do have to drain the pond |
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Post by The witch on Mar 1, 2007 23:18:10 GMT 1
I can well imagine   |
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Post by seanmckinney on Mar 16, 2007 15:29:30 GMT 1
Well I switched the filter pump on on the fish pond today, phew was it whiffy water.
I also gave the stream a flush out, boy do fuschia bushes shed a lot of leaves.
I now have frog spawn in the fish pond too, eek I am going to be swimming in frogs.
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 16, 2007 17:05:08 GMT 1
Sean, you obviously like ponds like I like cacti  When should I start feeding my fish again? |
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Post by seanmckinney on Mar 16, 2007 17:48:21 GMT 1
When the water temp is over 10C, I think some folks feed some wheat germ below 10C but check on that. I generally leave it until the fish are up and seem active, at the moment if they are eating I'd guess they are browsing the pond.
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Post by dutchy on Mar 17, 2007 11:56:01 GMT 1
I just bookmarked this thread, I love your ponds Sean. They make my little pond look like ... well a very small pond.  I have no fish because they will eat the egs of the newts. What sort of wild life do you get? |
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Post by The witch on Mar 17, 2007 14:23:50 GMT 1
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Post by The witch on Mar 17, 2007 14:25:47 GMT 1
Sean, you obviously like ponds like I like cacti When should I start feeding my fish again? I feed my fish all winter Mick, with wheatgerm sticks when the water is between 5c - 10c and only if they are asking to be fed. |
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Post by seanmckinney on Mar 17, 2007 15:14:27 GMT 1
I have posted in the The witch/Duchy thread, two questions though,
1) is the water level in you pond well below the level of the paving or is that just my eyes?
If it is below the level of the paving then I would add water, "free board" make it awkward for animals to escape or leave the pond
2) The near, raised, curved edge, how did you make it? It looks quite thin and interests me.
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Post by dutchy on Mar 18, 2007 13:29:02 GMT 1
Sean, I answered in the The witch/Dutchy thread. The planks look thin they are 2cm thick though and pressure treated. Now 11 years in place and no problems exept with the frost having pushed them up in the first years which is why they are not level with the paving. They go 2 meter deep and are bolted at the back. All this was done before the paving and lining the pond. I'll take a better picture.  With dandelion ;D |
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