Monsieur Eduoard having come and gone with much less fanfare than expected, we were able to recommence pond renovation activities this morning. Justin arrived just after 8 with a load of moss rock and got to work arranging them around the pond. Within no time at all (compared to how long it would have taken me!), the pond looked like this:
I'm going to be very interested to see how I feel about my checkerboard path once the pond is done. The paths through the garden started out as crushed granite but the weed problem was horrific. I have two large concrete patios at the back of the house, both nearly square, and all the curves in the paths seemed to overemphasize that squareness. I hit on the idea of using 12 inch square concrete pavers, set on the diagonal from each other, and filled in with rock (they call the size I used river rock here). As I'd hoped, the square pavers tied the path and the patios together. I used iron sulfate to stain the white concrete pavers so they'd blend in with the rocks. I have a sneaking suspicion that once the pond is finished, I'm going to want to switch out the pavers with flagstones to make the path and the pond blend better. Then I'll be back to the problem of the un-hip patios. I'd dearly love to have those redone with flagstones, too, but I think Essence Man will balk at that.
Justin found some very cool moss rock and I am really happy with how he's used them. I only made one correction to his placement of the rocks and then told him to go ahead and mortar them in. Too often I get caught up in trying to make things just so ... experience has taught me that I'm usually just as happy with the results when I don't overthink the process.
Justin spent most of his morning mortaring in the rocks and this afternoon found him trimming the liner, adding some rocks around the edges, and creating planting pockets amongst the rocks. I'll plant those with some kind of ground cover to help soften the edges of the rocks, perhaps some type of thyme.
Tomorrow Justin will return with gravel to fill the bog area. I still haven't chosen plants for that area so that's on my to do list. Once the bog area is filled and planted, we'll be almost done! Justin has some spots he wants to fine tune, and the clean-up work to do, including a few more cuts to the liner. We might add a rock here or there ... we're still discussing whether to add a few rocks around the electrical box to further camouflage it. I might be able to get away without them if I plant judiciously.
I'm happily surprised by how much more substantial the pond is than I expected. I think it's due to the size of the rocks used ... I love the large flat stones at the front and on the left. I'll be able to stand or sit on those to feed the fish that will soon be calling the pond home. What kind they will be, I haven't decided. I want to consult the fine folks at Nelson Water Gardens first. It's too late for me to make a trip today but first thing tomorrow morning, that's where I'm headed!
I'm going to be very interested to see how I feel about my checkerboard path once the pond is done. The paths through the garden started out as crushed granite but the weed problem was horrific. I have two large concrete patios at the back of the house, both nearly square, and all the curves in the paths seemed to overemphasize that squareness. I hit on the idea of using 12 inch square concrete pavers, set on the diagonal from each other, and filled in with rock (they call the size I used river rock here). As I'd hoped, the square pavers tied the path and the patios together. I used iron sulfate to stain the white concrete pavers so they'd blend in with the rocks. I have a sneaking suspicion that once the pond is finished, I'm going to want to switch out the pavers with flagstones to make the path and the pond blend better. Then I'll be back to the problem of the un-hip patios. I'd dearly love to have those redone with flagstones, too, but I think Essence Man will balk at that.
Justin found some very cool moss rock and I am really happy with how he's used them. I only made one correction to his placement of the rocks and then told him to go ahead and mortar them in. Too often I get caught up in trying to make things just so ... experience has taught me that I'm usually just as happy with the results when I don't overthink the process.
Justin spent most of his morning mortaring in the rocks and this afternoon found him trimming the liner, adding some rocks around the edges, and creating planting pockets amongst the rocks. I'll plant those with some kind of ground cover to help soften the edges of the rocks, perhaps some type of thyme.
Tomorrow Justin will return with gravel to fill the bog area. I still haven't chosen plants for that area so that's on my to do list. Once the bog area is filled and planted, we'll be almost done! Justin has some spots he wants to fine tune, and the clean-up work to do, including a few more cuts to the liner. We might add a rock here or there ... we're still discussing whether to add a few rocks around the electrical box to further camouflage it. I might be able to get away without them if I plant judiciously.
I'm happily surprised by how much more substantial the pond is than I expected. I think it's due to the size of the rocks used ... I love the large flat stones at the front and on the left. I'll be able to stand or sit on those to feed the fish that will soon be calling the pond home. What kind they will be, I haven't decided. I want to consult the fine folks at Nelson Water Gardens first. It's too late for me to make a trip today but first thing tomorrow morning, that's where I'm headed!
Comments
It's going to lower the temperature in your garden to enjoyable when you sit on the flat rock to feed your fish! It looks great and I look forward to seeing your plant choices. Gail
Now I want one!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Man, I really need to get off my butt and finish my own pond, but I'm really rethinking my prefab liner. Did you have problems with your old liner right away?
Gail, I'm thinking my planting scheme will be green and white to make it a very cool and inviting oasis.
Leslie, you could try a half barrel container water garden. It would certainly be easy maintenance!
Carol, you've got room in your garden, from what I remember. Go for it!
I have really bad shifting clay soil too, and was also stymied about how to hide the edges of a prefab liner and worried about shifting, but felt that I needed the prefab for stability because about half of it is going to be surrounded by dirt going into a hill behind it, and the other half is probably going to be bricked in. As I was looking through your new pond construction pictures, I realized that if I use both a prefab liner and a regular liner, I can make the pond deeper, blend away the edges and make a natural waterfall, and create more stability for the walls all at the same time!
Thanks for this series of pond posts! I'm all excited about my project again for the first time in months. :D