Pond Practice

Our visit to Molly was partly with the intention of renovating her garden pond (the traditional exchange of labour for food and company!). She had a small pond, a few feet in diameter, and about a foot deep, but it wasn't entirely satisfactory. The fountain was unimpressive (it had to be turned down low, or it threw the water out of the pond), and it was rapidly out-grown by the plants.

So we dug her a new one.

Newly dug pond: ledge all the way round (bit bigger in top right, due to soakaway pipe) and with a wildlife escape ramp in the top left. The pond's 6'x8', and around 2' deep: there was about three barrows of rubble buried in the soil (© Ian 2012)

Half-way through filling up, before trimming (© Ian 2012)

Pond filled and fountain running. The edging will be tidied up after planting (© Ian 2012)

Of course, no trip to Ludlow is complete without a trip to the plant stalls on the market, and this time was no exception. We found a really lovely oak-leaved hydrangea (H. quercifolia): it has pretty leaves, with good autumn colour. It would hold its own, I think, as a deciduous shrub, but it also flowers (large, white, typical hydrangea flowers) in late summer. We also pinched some cuttings of a red-stemmed variegated willow, and half a dozen kaffir lilies (Schizostylis coccinea). Ample reward for pond digging, I think.

Oak-leaved hydrangea, along with willow cuttings (front left) (© Ian 2012)