a 'ole in the ground
so big and sort o' round
and there was I, diggin' it deep
it was flat at the bottom and the sides were steep.
Did you sing it? or are you too young! (If you don't know what I'm talking about look HERE)
Why was I diggin'a 'ole?
Well it was because I don't like the plant Golden Rod and because Col found those great ol' plastic pots at the boot sale.
So I dug out the Golden Rod and dug a big hole (I did get a bit of help from Col and his big boots!), then we lined out the pot with some thick black plastic and sunk it in the hole. Covered the edges with some bits of rock from a huge heap on the side of the meadow and hey presto we have a pond.
Now you might think that a pond this small is a bit useless but I know from past experience that even this little bit of water in a garden can attract frogs and frogs eat slugs. Frogs need a way out of a deep hole so Col used his angle-grinder to cut a 2" slice off a sandstone slab and we've put that in the water so they have something to use like a step-ladder out to the edge. My next job will be to collect lots of stones to cover all the plastic. Heaps of stones around the edge make a good place for small creatures to hide.
I didn't think we would need a pond here because there is a wide ditch across the lane, which had ducks and moorhens on just a few weeks ago, now after the prolonged dry spell it's completely dry. But - hooray - we had rain last night, not a lot but better than nothing and hopefully more forecast in the next few days. We've been watering the greenhouse crops and some of the outside things but there's nothing like a good rain for fruit trees.
Many thanks for comments yesterday.The walnut must have been buried there by a squirrel although the nearest walnut tree that I know of is right at the end of the lane where it joins the road that's about 150 metres - quite a long way for a squirrel to carry a walnut!
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I didn't think we would need a pond here because there is a wide ditch across the lane, which had ducks and moorhens on just a few weeks ago, now after the prolonged dry spell it's completely dry. But - hooray - we had rain last night, not a lot but better than nothing and hopefully more forecast in the next few days. We've been watering the greenhouse crops and some of the outside things but there's nothing like a good rain for fruit trees.
Many thanks for comments yesterday.The walnut must have been buried there by a squirrel although the nearest walnut tree that I know of is right at the end of the lane where it joins the road that's about 150 metres - quite a long way for a squirrel to carry a walnut!
Back Tomorrow
Sue
When we first moved here, because this old farmhouse has been Georgianized (and Victorianized too, with the bay windows.) I wanted to make the traditional Georgian planting of a Walnut, a Mulberry, a Quince and a Fig? was it? I may still do that in our final home. Glad you found a little feral one anyway!
ReplyDeleteI'm not mad about Golden Rod either (can't wait to cut it down when it has flowered) but the bees like it so I let it be. I am still trying to eradicate the floppy things in the border - can't be doing with long floppy stems. Of course, these are the things which spread horribly and have very breakable roots.
A pond, however small, adds a new dimension to a garden. Our wildlife pond is amazing and has all sorts of little beasties in it and utilising it. The goldfish pond needs a good cleanout as we used to have some Coy/Goldfish crosses (BIG ones) and they left a lot of . . . silt!
MEDLAR not Fig.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I also remember all the words to that song and can here it being sung in my head. Takes me back!
ReplyDeleteI can remember the song well, it is the one where he's 'getting nowhere, has another cup of tea' there lots of these songs back in the 60's.
ReplyDeleteThats the piano down the stairs song where they keep having another cup of tea and then they go home.
DeleteOh dear, my memory isn't what it used to be!
DeleteJust recently both Springwatch & Gardeners World were encouraging us all to make a pond - even a bucket sized one. So well done for creating one in your garden. A neighbouring allotment plot has a pond & we all benefit from the frogs & newts eating the slugs/snails.
ReplyDeleteThat's only a few lePs for a squirrel though really! x
ReplyDeleteLeaps even!!
DeleteYes, you are right. I'd forgotten just how quick they can get from one tree to another and along a hedge.
DeleteWitha bit of luck you might also get newts - and the stones will encourage them to stay over the winter.
ReplyDeleteJust had to sing that song, then the piano one. Then rang the grandchildren and sang them both again. Now I need to dig a little pond out,as soon as the rain stops, I have a big pot to use.
ReplyDeleteha, yeah, I know the song!
ReplyDeleteyour pond is sweet. And you are right. We usually have a frog hopping around at some point, and all we have are bird baths in the garden.
x
Ha, ha....yes I did sing it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea for a little pond. I'll have to ask Roz to make room for one in our garden-x-
I can't get it out of my head now. Dear old Bernard Cribbins!
ReplyDeleteLove the wee tiny pond!
J x
Right said Fred!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet little pond and if the frogs eat the slugs that can only be a good thing. xx
ReplyDeleteThe 'bloke in the bowler' says that's where the hole belongs.
ReplyDeletexx
I love your little pond, didn''t you have one in an old sink at the smallholding. Unfortunately, here, it would just be a breeding ground for mosquitoes. We are always being reminded, on the news, to make sure we have no standing water on our property. I don't think I've seen a frog since I was a kid in England.
ReplyDeleteYes I loved my sink-pond but it was a really old heavy stone sink and there was just no way to move it - sadly. But before the sink we had just a little pond like this that our youngest dug many years before.
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