New Pond

A few weeks ago Maisie decided to cool off in our pond and punctured the liner causing it to leak out about half its depth. As a result my desire to enlarge the pond received fresh impetus and over the weekend Alison and I have been digging out a new hole for the new and improved version.

In emptying out the old one I found nearly thirty frogs and kept them overnight in an old tin bath along with the copious amounts of spawn already laid.

The photos show the work in progress with the depth in the larger part at least two feet with an additional trench adding another nine inches. The shallows are six inches deep and there are a couple of shelves to support plants later. All round the pond we dug out a small amount of earth to allow us to level it properly and to ensure we could bury the liner from sight successfully.

The pond is now five foot wide by six foot long and is lined by a butyl liner which is more expensive than the previous liner but has a lifetime guarantee along with greater flexibility. Hopefully the dogs will leave this pond to the wildlife. I recovered two of their toys from the bottom of the pond as well, a rubber hoop and a rugby shaped ball along with two golf balls.

The work completed so far leaves us with the paving stones not yet properly in place and work to be done on the soil excavated from the hole. That can wait a little longer. My priority was returning the frogs and spawn to the pond as soon as possible.