Wednesday 22 August 2012

Aug 11, 2009, Multiply, The Garden Pond



THE GARDEN POND

The only thing left unfinished on my pond is the mosaic I intend to put around the edges to cover the rather dull concrete blocks. I’m still hoping to get this done before the end of the week, (back to work next week UGH!!).

I’ve rather given up on the idea of a wild life pond and am accepting an ornamental fish pond could be a better idea. I wanted to keep the pond for wild life and intended waiting until next spring to put frogspawn and toad spawn into the pond. Turns out that waiting a whole year to do this could be a bad idea because the pond was filling up with mosquito larva and until the frogs arrived, there were no predators to eat the dreaded larva. Which is why I put two gold fish in there, one died the very next day and I don’t really know why. The other one made himself right at home and lives at the bottom behind one of the submerged aquatic baskets used for growing plants. I don’t see him very often but at least I know he’s healthy and if I really want to see him, I know which pot to move to coax him out. Yesterday I was at the pet shop buying for my indoor tropical tank and saw two little silver fish swimming about in a huge tank with a lot of other bigger gold fish and different sorts of Koi. They were very pretty and glittered in the light, they were only about one inch long and so I asked about them. They are called blue orfe, they grow up to about one foot long and will live quite happily out doors in a pond like mine, so I bought them!! I haven’t seen either of them since, which is a bit odd because all the book say that orfe like to play at the top of the water. I’m sure they are safe at the bottom and when they are a bit bigger I’m sure they will come out to play.
The little corner of my garden where my pond sits is now completely given over to wild life, (which is why I wanted a wild life pond). I have bird boxes in the tree ready for next year, I have bird feeders hanging from the tree and the ground is left to go wild. That piece of ground is mostly covered in periwinkle but it also has pink campion, wild forget-me-nots, primroses, cow-slips, snow drops and blue bells. I have also encourages clumps of clover to grow there.

15 Comments
Add a Comment
   

acousticeagle wrote on Aug 12, '09
Mosaic work is hard work, but I think you can do it because you are determined. I did mosaic on my coffee table. The table top was just laminated plywood, so I put a cactus and desert scene on it in 'Sante Fe' colours. It looks good.

aimlessjoys wrote on Aug 12, '09
It looks just great, & a mosaic sounds perfect! Congrats on your good work!

forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 11, '09
mitchylr said
Can you send some this way please,
I've been with out a camera this summer but before when I did have my camera, even with the zoom lense...........they sat out of reach of a decent photo...............little buggers seem to know just how far away they need to be. I did get some rather nice photographs of cormorants last year though. They are pretty amazing birds too.

mitchylr wrote on Aug 11, '09
They all sit at the waters edge along the beach when this tide is out, or they sit on the rocks at the cliffs.......
Can you send some this way please, Loretta. Heron is one knd of bird I have been trying in vain to photograph for ages. There are quite a few in this area, but they seem to know when I'm out with my camera and disappear!!

ecec333 wrote on Aug 11, '09
Beautiful work, Loretta. My aunt had such a small, nice pond in her garden, but the fish were stolen, both by naughty kids and by CATS ...

djdx wrote on Aug 11, '09
Some wildlife might just show up on its own, you never know. Meanwhile, i think you had a good idea.

forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 11, '09
mitchylr said
..keep an eye out, ponds with fish in them attract herons.
now this may sound very crazy..............but I would love to see herons in my garden, They all sit at the waters edge along the beach when this tide is out, or they sit on the rocks at the cliffs.........I don't know any one who has come so close to them that they actually visit the garden. maybe it's because we live by the sea and there is still fishing going on here, I think the herons would turn their noses up at my little gold fish......bigger and better fish to be had around here. But the gulls could be a problem.........they are scavengers and overturn dustbins

mitchylr wrote on Aug 11, '09
I think a mosaic would top it off nicely. Word of warning.....keep an eye out, ponds with fish in them attract herons....and pretty soon there won't be any fish in the pond. If you detect any, you may have to consider some kind of netting over it.

brendainmad wrote on Aug 11, '09
Hope you get the mosaic done. I'm sure I've mentioned that one of my sisters has a pond in which in the summer she has two turtles and some gold fish. Originally the gold fish were bought as food for the turtles, but for reason they didn't eat them. In the winter everybody goes to the indoor aquarium.

sandycaar wrote on Aug 11, '09
THIS AREA OF YOUR GARDEN IS LOOKING TERRIFIC, LORETTA, AND ADDING THE MOSAIC WILL JUST TOP IT OFF,,ENJOY YOUR GARDEN AND POND NOW AND AS IT DEVELOPS FURTHER,,VERY NICE!!

forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 11, '09
veryfrank said
Perhaps a most practical idea to go with the fis
that's what I felt Frank, i admit it's not what i wanted, the whole idea of a pond was to create more of a natural habitat in my garden, sometimes we just need to be a bit pragmatic i suppose. Although........I'm working a a new idea :-))...............I have the old sink top from when the kitchen was done and I'm wondering if I could keep frogspawn in sink until the baby frogs are big enough not to get eaten my my blue orfe (which should be quite big by next year) and then encourage them to hop over to the pond!1 that way I can have fish AND wild life All I would need to do is dig a small hole and put the old sink next to the big pond................sort of like a hatchery for frogs!! ..

veryfrank wrote on Aug 11, '09
Perhaps a most practical idea to go with the fish. It is looking good, the best of luck and lots of enjoyment next year.

greenwytch wrote on Aug 11, '09
may your garden grow well and happily. ; D

starfishred wrote on Aug 11, '09
OH SUCH A NICE PLACE TO THINK YOUR OWN THOUGHTS LOVELY LORETTA-

lrrpslady wrote on Aug 11, '09
You are such a gem Loretta.

No comments:

Post a Comment