Wednesday, after hours of work in and around the pond we got it cleaned, filled with water and the waterfall and second pump going;-)…
a hose was dug into the dirt and blocks tidied up from last year’s construction…
there were a dozen various sparrows snacking on the grass and clover seed that went down last Saturday, lol…
they have also been enjoying the water with baths and drinks…
the back deck is not quite set up, but I managed to get a cushion on one of the chairs and sat out enjoying the wonderful sound of the water cascading from the waterfall and over the rock…
and while we were working on the pond, Hilda the Gardener was tidying up all the flower beds, in the hope that someday we will be able to plant, lol…
the leaves have been falling and clogging up the pump every few days…
this is getting to be a pain so I spent the first time cleaning out the filter and pulling up leaves from the bottom…
the second time I cut back all the reeds to be sure the sun could get to the new bud, hoping that the weather cooperates so it can open… I also hoped it would help make the netting easier to cover the pond…
last year we put down green netting over the pond to try to catch the leaves, but it looked terrible and I took it off…
this year we have a new plan… we got black netting and pulled it tight over the pond covering everything from the waterfall to the furthest edges of the pond…
it is really hard to see the netting except around the edges where it is doubled up and it was already catching the never-ending falling leaves….
the work on the pond waterfall area started in early June… when the first two fixes didn’t work we moved on to more serious attempts…
the water in the upper pond was removed, and all the gunk was vacuumed out…
a group of three attempted to lift out the waterfall rock… unfortunately, it broke in the process… one of us might have had a meltdown;-(…
next the remaining blocks were removed and a new liner was installed… then the blocks were put back in… a bit of a puzzle to remember where each one went, lol… possibly they should have been numbered;-)…
the next step involved filling cracks with foam and gluing down some of the rocks…
with help from a friend the main piece of the waterfall rock was carefully lowered back into its spot…
it took three of us, but the three pieces of the waterfall rock were joined together with special rock cement and we waited a week for it to cure…
then the flat rock portion was glued down and left to cure…
next the hose was put down inside the liner and the waterfall spillway was placed back into the waterfall rock… there were a lot of crossed fingers at that point…
finally, on Sunday night, August 10th the waterfall was turned on…
it was too late for a good picture, so this one was taken the next morning…
there is no leaking 🤪…
a great job by my housemate and various friends throughout the process as issues arose and heat and rain caused stoppages…
what a treat to hear the water running and not have to worry about adding water all the time;-)…
we’ve been working on the pond to try and fix the leak that only seems to happen when the waterfall is running…
we purchased a new hose from a pond store and it took a while to get here… then we had to wait for a good day to work on it…
took extra help to pull the old hose and insert the new one… next a new connection to the pump had to be purchased and finally on Sunday evening the waterfall was turned on… the pump hadn’t been cleaned, but the water was coming through the waterfall much stronger that previously…
we thought the problem was where the water meets the deck on the deck side…
this how it looked at the end of Tuesday…
and it was still leaking, sigh…
this is how it looked on Thursday, although we may be getting closer to the problem…
the current iteration of the pond is ten years old…
hard to believe that much time has passed…
this is how it looked just as it was completed…
after it was finished, they had to come back and deal with leaking and runoff…nearly all of the plants have changed over time, lol… and I have changed the slate around the edge of the pond for large river rocks…
it still loses water when the waterfall is running and this year I have left if off for a good portion of the time… I also think the fish are out and about more when it isn’t running, lol… I do have a bubbler going all the time…
this year the water lilies are extremely happy… they continue to produce blooms daily, it is both amazing and delightful…
today, I turned the waterfall on and realized that I’d been missing it, and how well it dilutes other sounds in the neighbourhood…
herbiggirlpants 