The Pond

The Pond

 

   We came up with the idea  of having some kind of a pond to help attract birds years ago. We have a spot out by the trees where we hang the bird feeders that we thought would work so we started digging. The first ne we had was only about 5 feet long by 4 feet wide and about 2 feet deep. We just lined the bottom with plastic and filled it full of water. We added a fountain, some water plants and even a few fish. It was such a great place to sit in the evening and listen to the water flowing as we relaxed and watched the birds.

   The first problem we had with that one was the little weenie dog we had at the time would not keep her butt out of the pond! I'm pretty sure the reason she kept jumping in was because she could see the fish and kept trying to catch them. I was sure she had accomplished that when my fish started disappearing! I never could catch her at it though and I never found any sign that she was eating them but I was sure she was the culprit. Then one day I was sitting on the front porch and notices a huge blob in the tree right above the pond. It was high enough in the tree that with it being later in the evening and starting to get dark I couldn't tell what it was until it moved. I couldn't believe that I was seeing a Great Blue Heron sitting in a pine tree! It hopped from one limb to another until it was on the lowest limb then fluttered down to land on the edge of the pond. I was in shock and didn't even think about scaring it away so I just set there and watched the damn thing eat two of my fish. I had to apologize to the stubby legged dog! Over the next few days that bird ate every one of our fish!

   I guess the dog just liked being in the water but that still cause our next problem. She didn't have any trouble jumping in the pond but it was the getting out that killed use. She ripped the plastic to pieces with her back legs while trying to climb out and unfortunately the ground around here is not like the ground down home, it will not hold water! All the water drained out through the tears and that was the end of that pond. We still wanted one though and a few years ago we started in again. We owe thanks to lots of people for helping with this one Son Justin was the first one to hop in the existing hole and start cleaning it out and digging it deeper. The bad thing with that is that he was only able to do it one summer and between the back and the lungs I just wasn't able to continue. It had to sit for a couple of years because we couldn't afford to hire anyone to carry on. I'd go out and dig at it a little every time I got to feeling well enough but I could only do a few shovelfuls before I had to stop and at that rate it was going to take years to get it done. Next up I made a deal with a neighbor to finish the digging. He worked hard and did good but he ran out of gas half way through the job so we were stuck again.

   Finally Dorris and I decided we wanted it bad enough to finish it ourselves no matter how long it took! I started working on it during the day 15 minutes of digging and cleaning then back in the house for a breathing treatment. Kind of the same way I did the deck out back. Dorris helped when she got home in the evenings and slowly we gained on it.

   Same as last time, it's nothing fancy, just a hole lined with plastic but it is larger and deeper than the first one and we don't have any water crazy dogs to tear it up this time.

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   We added some astro-turf to hide the black plastic and make it easier for the birds to get down to the water to drink. The rocks around the edge are ones from the yard (got more rocks than dirt). They cover and hold down the edges of the plastic and astro-turf plus the dogs can stand on them while drinking and they will help keep them from falling in.

   Added a filter with the fountain because we do want to add some fish and plants.

   Yes that is a birdbath. It is a nice one and we like the way it looks. It also helps aureate the water.

   The last water feature. Dorris saw this when we buying the filter and liked it.
We're going to let it sit for a few days while we decide if we want to keep it and if we do I will hide the water line going to it.

   We still got some clean up to around the pond. We need to bring our covered swing around front. Add some water plants, snails and fish. Not sure what to do with the spaces around the pond. Thinking of adding some top soil and seeing if I can get some grass to grow back under the trees. Anyway, this is our pond and I'm looking forward to sitting by it in the evening again!