Duck Pond – Overdue for Cleaning
The duck pond is long overdue for a proper clean. For weeks every time I flush the pump and filter out it runs for a few days then clogs up again so I’ve been guessing that’s a sign the sludge has built up too much in the bottom of the pond. So, I accepted my fate and dug out the dirty water pump. I managed to find places to store most of the water for later use on the garden (or perhaps in the frog pond). And sure enough...
Frog Pond Update: More Plants (Again)
The rest of the plant order for the pond arrived yesterday and I got most of them in yesterday. One had me a bit unsure of how to handle it and required further research, but that’s now been done this morning. Added to the pond have been Bull Rushes (4 plants in two pots), Club Rushes (4 plants in two pots) and Bacora Monniera – variously known as Memory Plant amongst other things (a lot of small cuttings in one pot). The...
Frog Pond Update: More Plants & Other Minor Changes
Some further pottering around the frog pond today, with some additional shelves, plants from the existing garden and associated adjustments. Firstly I made a necessary change to the main island. The island (which is actually a disused plastic compost bin) as it was was not very stable,, and already seemed struggling with the limited weight I had on top of it. I had it lying on its side which made it a little lower, as I wanted, but...
Frog Pond Update: And Then There Were Fish
The main event in the Frog Pond development today was the arrival of the fish. Who knew you could order fish online for home delivery (the packaging for shipping was very impressive). I had some nervousness about one of the species I’d ordered eating the tadpoles after reading stories of this happening. But I spoke to the aquarium guys at Coburg Aquarium, where I ordered the fish, and he reassured me, basically saying that any...
Frog Pond Update: Water Lilies Arrival
Today’s big change in the new pond is the water lilies arrived. I’ve planted them up and they’re looking really good in the pond after settling in for a couple of hours. I was skeptical buying them on eBay, in bare-rooted form. But the price is so much better and I think they’re going to survive. At the local nursery they wanted $40 for a larger, established water lily in a pot. On eBay I got 10 (there were...
Frog Pond Update
Bit by bit the old pool is becoming the new pond. I’ve added more locations for plants, and added some new plants both inside and outside the pond itself. I’ve also moved the shade sail to provide much more shade (a tricky thing to do in itself as anchor points are hard to come by). The water is definitely going greener since I combined what was sitting in the tarp and what was below it. So that’s a small concern...