The first thing I saw this morning was that the random plant that had been among the white mazus, and which I saved with no great thought, was suddenly flowering. The flower closed in the afternoon, so I hope will be back again tomorrow. It’s a golden-eyed grass – sisyrinchium californium. It likes boggy ground (and rock hard ground too, apparently). I would guess that it was seeded in the mazus soil when I bought that.
The next projects were building the front left corner, where the liner is a bit short, and finishing the back right corner. At the front I flattened and pinned the liner as best I could. I’ve put some of the forget-me-nots back down the original hole behind all the liners and the rest I’ve floated in the water in that area. The water is technically a bit deep for them, but they’d previously been in deep water, rafting in the elodea.
A little bit of liner is visible at the front, which is inevitable. I’ve given it a layer of soil and stones and it might get another layer when that dries and settles. I’ve sprinkled million bells (chaenorhinum origanifolium) seed all over the front and right banks to see if that will take off at all. No sign of a previous sowing, but I’ve sprinkled lots more this time and it’s had more soil on top. I was almost done with the pond before late lunch, which was an amazing feeling.
After lunch I had a new Stanley knife blade with which to cut the excess liner and underlay, which put my previous blade to absolute shame.
I stole some cobbles from home to finish off the bird bowl. I needed a couple of big ones to cover the liner on the front wall of the bird bowl. I’ve added a stick for smaller birds to perch on. We’ll see if they appreciate it. There’s a bit of wood on the front bank, which I’m assuming will get tossed in.
I still had the box of bottom water and sorted through it expecting to get some water for the garden and mud for wherever. With a bucket of water out I realised that there was a lot of life still in the mud and in the water, so I put that into the pond. I carefully mixed up the rest and added that too, which included a big diving beetle and a snail. So I think that’s three big beetles I have now.
I might add some pebbles to the pond as I have a lot, but I will wait for the water to settle and see what the bottom’s like. An unbelievable number had sunk to the very bottom in the original pond, completely ruining the depth. The new bird bowl design should stop that happening.
I’m absolutely delighted with the result and amazed I managed to get this done in five shifts, a couple of those with help. The wildlife has been preserved, banks weeded, planted and improved; the shape mammothly improved in various ways and not too much money spent on it.
A starling failed to get any food from the feeder, which was satisfying to see. I’m still considering a branchy arch over it to keep the big birds off and for the little birds to perch in. It’s so fun to see them on the branches I’ve got propped up lower down.
I’ve added big poppy seed to beds 6 and 1 as a last ditch attempt to fill in spaces in the flowers. The Icelandic poppies in Bed 1 are now coming up well, so if they’re successful, they could be a good annual sow in the borders.