Pond Life

Looks like we will have tadpoles in the pond this year--*toad* tadpoles--those cute, little black ones I remember from my youth.  :)

Amazing to stumble upon the act of procreation itself! 

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Pond Progress

The spring rains did me in.  I had the hardest time trying to keep up with mowing.  There were too few days without rain--and of course, the grass grew fast and high, so it always needed mowing.  The mugwort (my nemesis) took off this year, too--to towering heights.  Eventually, I got around to sickling the mugwort on the slope.

My pond project kept getting put off.  Originally, I had planned to dig out a "spillway", in early spring, to make the pond look more natural...and to make it look bigger as well.  Having the pond appear to spill into a wetland would allow me a larger spot in which to grow water-loving natives (like Iris versicolor, swamp milkweed, and marsh marigold).  That section has yet to be dug out.

Since, I still haven't hidden the liner, perhaps that isn't a bad thing (but, I would rather have had it dug, planted, and functioning--I can hide the liner as I find the time).

Despite having had lower back pain for three weeks prior, last week, I finally started digging out a section of the pond that ended up shallower than I had originally expected (and the surrounding bank much higher than I had intended).  I thought there was a good bit of excess liner, that would allow me to extend the depth and length of the pond on that end.  I was wrong...sort of.

I was able to make it deeper...and a little bit longer...but not as wide as I had dug out for.   I had held the water back with the liner and a 2X4...but, when I was nearly ready to rework it, it started spilling in onto the old carpet I was using for a protective underlayment!  There was not enough liner for that section.  Soon, I was standing in  inches of water, my shoes and socks soaked.

I ended up bracing the liner and holding back the water again...and leaving the whole mess for the next day.

The following day, I decided to add another piece of liner to the newly created section...I made a higher section

that will make it seem like a natural shelf worn out from running water--an extension of the stream (that I will later create--"Phase III").  It will hold water which will end up making the whole section look more natural.

I was thrilled to have a curious frog or two come watch what I was doing!  Up until now, the five or so bigger frogs, jump into the depths at the hint of my approach.

Even while standing, unexpectedly, in the pond water the day before, I knew digging out more than I needed would end up being worth it.

There is a long way to go...and what I have done will get tweaked, but having a natural-looking pond and streambed is just a little closer to a reality.

Just Add Water

After hauling two more large rocks to the site of my pond and streambed project, I finally felt ready to resume building a water feature...at least the first phase in what I envision for our hillside.

The hole I dug last year was filled up with weeds...and a few natives that I moved to another project I'm working on--the backyard slope.  After moving the rocks I'd left in place since last year so that I could mow and see what I was working with, I dug a little more, raked away stones, and put down the liner ((with old carpet underneath).  I filled it with water to get a feel of what I was working with.  Being that it is near the top of a hill and on a slope, I have my work cut out for me.  Honestly, I was a little discouraged as I tried to imagine how I could eventually make this look natural.  Now, two days later, I feel quite a bit more sure that it will turn out okay.

What surprised me the most was, the next morning (less than 24 hours after filling the liner), I found a water strider bug (Limnogonus fossarum)!  The following morning, I spotted two other insects under the water; I've seen them before, but don't know what they are--yet. :)

"Just add water"...it really is as simple as that...not that hauling all of the rocks, and now trying to piece them together to look natural is exactly simple. :)