"Gill Passman" wrote in message
...
cat daddy wrote:



I built a pond for my mom (she was from Beckenham, in Bromley, btw) back
in the 80's. I kept it up and improved it, but it was well established
by the time I found this group, so I mostly lurked and left the advice
to the experts.

Don't know Bromley myself, but hubby went to Ravensbourne so knows it
very well. I tend to be a lurker myself, there always used to be good
information just to read as much as anything else. Some great people on
these groups as well - hopefully they will come back in droves to the
moderated group. I used to love reading the stories like the ones about
Gary's Koi (Walter) and other's musings - the gentle banter with nothing
being taken personally - oh well, hopefully those days can return.

As do I. The best part about the group was people sharing their
innovations and creative solutions and inspiring the newbies and regulars
alike.

What ponds do you have right now? I seem to be eternally in the planning
stage since draining my pond a few years ago when the little one was
toddling about and my fear of her drowning was greater than my desire to
keep the pond going.....it was pretty though and had started to mature
nicely so it was a great shame to see it go. It did also have a siting
issue - the garden has a lot of trees overhanging it - and keeping up
with the leaf clearance was quite a task....even with netting.

Gill

Much the same here with the eternal planning. Up until recently, my
mother's pond (which is 50 miles away) required whatever attention I could
give, so that served to fill any ponding urges. I vacillate between making
the huge commitment build a pond complete as I've envisioned, or build in
stages, which as noted here repeatedly, would be less than satisfying once a
stage is complete.
Changing circumstances, both with my time (I volunteer to make
improvements at a local park) and available cash always delays that
commitment. I do have a hole in the backyard, where I excavate dirt needed
elsewhere, but I ultimately need to rent a machine to complete that work.
I also live on a lake, have a resident Great Blue Heron, other water
birds and raccoons, and a Labrador, so the design has to take into account
those issues. I do have a view of water, so there's no urgency to provide my
own. And, with drought and water woes here, my interest lately has been in
the ecological and biofiltration aspects of watergardening and how it might
incorporate water conservation.
Well, that's enough for now......