23 May 2009

Pond Life

My quiet place to sit and ponder.
Sorry!
A place where I feel
a wonderful sense of tranquility.
When I was very young my favourite place to play was by a stream that was close to our house.
My Mother would have been so mad with me,
had she known that was where I was most of the time!
Of course I had been told so many times not to go there.

So there my love of water began.
We have made several ponds in our various gardens.
But this one which we have now is for me the one that I love the best.
The most natural.

I wanted to create and area
with a woodland feel to it.
Lots of interesting shapes and colours to frame my pond.



Lambs Tongue Fern with it's very bright green glossy leaves
adds brightness to the shade.


The pond is heavily planted with plants of all shapes and colour around its edge.
This helps to keep some things out of the water !! ! and makes amazing reflections in the water....which try as I may, I just cannot capture the beauty of with my camera.



Gunera, a magnificent plan.
Small leaves quickly grow up into huge umbrella's.
Here, it is only just starting to appear by the Royal Fern.
By mid summer I will be able to stand under it and shelter from the rain.


I have squeezed behind the back planting of the pond to take this image, on my knees and getting as low to the ground as possible.


Now I think that the plants have taken the pond over and made it their own.
The water is not crystal clear, like our last Koi pond.
Mr N. has said that he wants to put another filter, a gravel one, to make the water a little clear so we can see the fish better.
The downside of course is, so can the Heron see better too!
It is cool here.
The trees and large shrubs have made the air feel
a little like being in a woodland glade.


Baby fish have also started to appear.
They must be happy with the water quality to breed.


Probably the best image is this one below.
This is just how I envisaged my pond to be.
Natural.

I hope that you enjoyed the tour of my pond.
The weekend is promising to be a good.
Have fun.
Carol
X

31 comments:

willywagtail said...

I think you have done a lovely job. This pond reminds me of one we had a couple of houses ago. Yes, very restful. Our cat used to love to sit on the edge stones and sun herself but the fish hid at those times.

winnie said...

It´s gorgeous, I´m jealous of you!

Sue said...

That is lovely, truly a little oasis.

To stop the Heron, buy an ornamental one from a nice garden centre and stand it by the edge of the pond. Herons never poach on each others territory, and from the air it will look just like the real thing (only don't get a plastic one, they look a bit tacky).

Sue xx

Floss said...

You have a wonderful, naturalistic pond - no wonder you like to spend time there! Thanks for the tour, Carol.

If you would like to come to my Garden Party next month, do pop over to my blog and check out the invitation!

Sal said...

As we sat and had coffee in our garden, earlier, we were only saying how we need a pond! We have masses of room to put one...it's just the thought of digging it!!
Lovely photos!
;-)

Cowboys and Custard Mercantile said...

You should be very proud of the garden you have created Carol..
It is somewhere I would love to sit too..

Michele x

Carol said...

ooops Sue, I do have one of those tacky plastic herons! I did not buy it as I do not like plastic either but my lovely Dad bought it for me when we lost one of our fish to the heron. I did not have the heart to say I did not like it!
But now thankfully we have some Crows who we keep happy with lots of food, they too are very territorial and chase the herons away, pecking at them and all...quite a sight to see.
Carol x

Lisa said...

Lovely photos.
Just the place to while away a bit of quiet time.
Thank you for the get well wishes.
Lisa

zmoon said...

Oh myyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Big breath. It is so lovely. At our new little place we could not dig down so we have to have an above ground pond. Our Koi are very happy and the for the first time in their lives - they can see clearly now! The reason being, we bought one of those UV Lights that go outside the water, hook into the water line and zap all the bacteria and excess algae. We had tried everything else and nothing worked. They are jumpingly, swimingly joyful now. Enjoy your wonderful pond.
Suzi Moon

Simone said...

Ooooohhhhh! I have pond envy. The pond I started at the beginning of the year was filled in as I realised that I had dug it on a slope. It has now become the blueberry patch! Have a lovely weekend enjoying your garden.x

Pondside said...

What a beautiful place you've created. You put me to shame.
We have two large woodland ponds that are pretty much surrounded by wild things. I'd like to lanscape around them a bit better - there are so many lovely plants that would suit. We also have a gunera - I love the 'flower' that we get from it each fall.

LiLi M. said...

I loved that tour around your pond! I love water (features) too. Two years ago we had our garden 'remade' and we had a pond built. We love it! I cannot agree more with you as you say 'a place where I feel a wonderful sense of tranquility'.
Last year a collegue of my husband gave us 10 goldfishs. At the end of the winter we had our enemy the Heron visited us daily :-( But we have still 8 big orange friends, though we see little toads. And we have numerous little black fish, are these small gold fish? I love your pond it is much bigger than ours, I love the plants and the natural look too. This weekend it is great weather to sit round your pond and relax. Enjoy!

Lace hearts said...

Hi Carol. WOW! It looks lovely - our pond is badly in need of a clean up, though it is healthy, but we've had to net it as we were losing so many fish to the heron. And, funnily enough, crows as well. I'd never believed crows could fish till I saw one doing it.
Loved your pics - thanks for posting those. x

Alexandra said...

Just wanted to say that your garden and blog are an inspiration. I have read yours, and others, for some time now and finally today I have created my first blog! Come on over and say hello! Feeling nervous now!

Andrea said...

pretty garden!

Lulu said...

what a nice and tranquil place...

The Curious Cat said...

Beautiful home and garden!

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Deanna said...

Oh what a tranquil place indeed! I'm loving the photos so much. The picture of the fish is so beautiful. I always wondered how one takes care of a pond. Seems like such a hard job but it's worth it I can see.

Deanna :D

Louise said...

Your pond area is great. I would love to be a frog! x

Rubyred said...

So pretty Carol, very restful,loved being serenaded by Paulo Nuttini as I read your post too!
Rachel x

Rubyred said...

Hi Carol, I will show you more of the garden when I've worked on it a bit more.In fact a lot more, might need some gardening advice too!
Rachel x

OhSoVintage said...

I always love reading your posts and looking at your amazing home and garden. We created a natural pond at our previous house and I do so miss it. You have inspired me to crack on with planning the one we will have here. Your garden is beautiful but those pesky herons pinch all the best fish don't they?

Poppy said...

Beautiful !!!
If you ever need a gardener let me know, I would be more than working in your garden.
Or even better sat with a glass of wine in a deck chair, I am off too have another look.

Love Lou xxx

Ragged Roses said...

What a beautiful corner of calm and tranquility you have created Carol, I hope you get to spend lots of time there over the summer, hopefully not sheltering under the gunnera when the rain falls - fingers crossed
Kimx

Marja Rijnsburger said...

Thanks for your nice words on my blog. I think water must be in every garden how small it is. There is always life at, in and around water. We recently visit the watergardens of Ada Hofman. I made a post of it. Your garden is so beautiful.
greetings.

Mary Poppins said...

Ohooo what a beautiful treat for me, thank you for inviting me round, My how i would love to while away a minute or two in your special oasis :)

Do enjoy your camping, how special, I love camping, as long as there is room service and an en suite i am happy ;)

Have a lovely, lovely weekend

Love

M

X

Anonymous said...

Hi Carol,
Big Hugs x
Fabulous pictures i could almost feel the cool!
I have a tiny version of this at the end of our deck we put in last year and it was inspired by YOURS! i shall have to post about it.......always think of you when we sit down there watching the fish meander.
Love Kristina XxX

Sarah Bradford-Burton said...

Just discovered your blog. Very nice. It's so much fun to see how others are across the sea. I wish I was in London! I'm so tired of L.A.
Also, I was wondering if you could tell me the name of the blue and white striped pottery you have in your jug picture? Kipper has it and I keep thinking I know the name of it.
Thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

My Blog
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/markacey

Nice to meet you
Hsinchu, Taiwan

Lucy Bloom said...

Phew - what a mega-post. Everything looks so lovely in the nursery and garden, both look very inviting!
Lucy x