Pond Planting

The pond is beginning to look like a natural part of the garden. Self seeded wild flowers attract insects. The pond edges have been either grassed or lined with the garden's natural stone.

The reservoir at the top of the cascade is stepped and acts as a drinking bowl, particularly in the winter months when most water is frozen. Birds also bathe (winter and summer) in each of the cascade sections, as these are very shallow. Originally the waterfall sides were lined with stones, but rough grass, which now overgrows the sides, seemed more natural.

Plants and grass at the front edge of the pond have been allowed to grow unhindered. These protect the many frogs and their resulting froglets who now spend most of the summer in or around the pond.

Our cat was called Lucky, because we adopted him after he was found, almost drowned, as a kitten. He loved basking around the edges of the pond. Sadly these were the last picture we took of him as he suffered from kidney failure, and had to be put to sleep two days later. He liked to stalk the frogs, but always leapt back in alarm when they jumped across the garden. Now we seem to have more neighbouring cats visit than ever before, as Lucky is not here to defend his territory. Although he would also stalk the birds, he only ran after them once they had taken to the air for safety! I think it was just a show of bravado. Unfortunately cats do kill many garden birds. In early May we had 11 eggs in our blue tit box. If the parents had been killed, it would have meant the loss of the subsequent 11 chicks, a point not always considered in statistics of bird casualties.