Time to redo the pond. The blackbird had pulled all the earth out of the creeping Jenny, so I might need some pond soil after all. He stood on the fence yelling at me like he owned the place for a while.

I set up two red boxes with some aged tap water and started adding water and weed from the pond. I’ve got everything split up into areas, which will be great as long as I remember what’s where.

Down at the bottom of the pond was about 2.5″ – 3″ of mud and stone, being held together with the roots of elodea. I think I’m going to try just depending on hornwort and possibly another floating pond to give shelter, which won’t take over the bottom. There was a lot of life in the mud, including – I think – a water boatman. So I need some mud and stone, but not that much and not something trying it all together.

I brought in reinforcements after lunch and Mum shifted most of the shelves, the clay having dried like concrete. Couch grass had crept all under the plastic and it’s amazing it only pierced it once. There wasn’t much sign of sand, but the earth had sagged in places.

In other news, something has pecked a hole in the side of my second bug hotel. I don’t know why my bee hotels are so attractive to vandals.