Garden Fish Pond

You may remember we put a post on May last year when we began the groundwork and foundations for the garden pond and then in July we did an update on our progress. We decided to put that project on the back-burner until the following Spring (now) so during a spell of lovely weather in March we took to the spade and started to dig out the earth. Shovel after shovel of soil began piling up which was useful as we needed to fill up some veggie beds and use on the back garden for a new border bed. Once the earth was dug out and tamped down we had a delivery of sand and began to line the pond with sand before fitting the butyl pond liner. Rob had previously installed the electric wiring and cables to fit the pump for the pond and the filter which sits inside the garden shed so it was a matter of connecting them up once the pond was filled with water (my favourite part!)

With the pond filled it was then onto finishing the cladding of the stone over the pond liner to seal it. Rob built a waterfall from concrete blocks and used the stone to clad it.
Some pictures showing the build stages of the pond:-

Rob has began entering fishing competitions and has won 2 of them! One on the matches he fished we were allowed to bring some small fish back for our pond. The main fishing season is closed at the moment but in May when my brother comes to visit they will go and catch other fish to add to the pond. And that makes Rob a happy chappy !!!!

Enjoying the garden

Last month on the 20th March we had our first BBQ of the year. We invited our friends and enjoyed the spring sunshine with a well earned "day off" and soaked up a few rays!

This time of the year I think the flowers are at their best. Mostly in other people's gardens though as ours isn't established yet. There are many fields displaying splendid shows of cherry and other fruit blossoms. Also lots of colourful shrubs, and garden flowers which are unknown to me. I am still learning which plants do well here as I have had to learn the hard way by finding out that some flowers I used to grow back in the UK just get burnt to death in the heat of the summer! Keeping them well watered is a major task in the summer and a lot of flowers just cannot tolerate the heat.

On the more productive side we are harvesting onions planted last October with another batch to harvest later which were planted in January, and very soon the next lot will be planted. We use lots onions either fresh or for cooking so I am trying to keep a succession of plants always in the garden, as thankfully this is one plant which will grow all year round here. Last month we planted a full bed of seed potatoes and this last week they are sprutting like mad! It is our first attempt at potatoes so fingers crossed we are successful. Garden peas are now planted, they don't seem to be growing as quickly as last year but they are up and on their way. Last week-end (5th April) we planted tomatoes and sweet peppers and in the small greenhouse we have courgettes and french beans waiting to be planted out. I know I am doing well with my onions as I can proudly say that when our locals pass by they always comment on my "grande cebolas" - big onions !!! Drying this batch out to use soon:-

Back Garden Sorted !!!!

Finally we have got round to "sorting out" the back garden. Last year we put in a flower border but left the rest to die off after applying weed killer and strimming.

This year we decided to put down weed suppressor and then lay gravel on top as it is such a huge job to kill off the 2 ft tall weeds and strim it all down after the winter on a yearly basis. The heat kills off the weeds and the ground goes hard if you leave it but it's not really a pretty sight so we decided to get some grunt work done and deal with it! Under the back garden we have a "fossa" which is a soak-away where the sewage and water runs in to and "just in case" we ever have any problems with it, it's advisable not to lay a hard surface on it and so gravel seemed to be the best way to go.
After the weeds had been killed off and strimmed.

Last week we had a full week of incessant rain (well it seemed like it) and then it turned 3 days ago (6th April) and we have been enjoying temperatures of 25/27 degrees and so we have put 2 sun-loungers there and have taken full advantage of an afternoon and sat with a beer, crossword puzzle book and sat back and enjoyed the view!

I am in the process of germinating some flowers and will be putting some plants in and adding a few potted up planters to pretty the back garden up. We also have to buy new garden furniture as we lost 2 tables and a chair after they went flying off the veranda ending up in various parts of the garden after ferocious winds last February.