#Thegreatpoolpondconversion - 200802
We took the weekend off.
The hurricane had nothing to do with it. It hit us but not really.
In fact it was so light that we would have been working anyway.
Instead we got up late, made pancakes and relaxed all morning.
At around 11:30, when we usually start prepping to go outside, we smiled and poured more coffee and tea.
Oh, and watched the waterfall.
The afternoon was much the same.
The pond easily survived it’s first ‘hurricane’. Had even one rock moved, our wrath at Isaias would have dwarfed the storm itself.
The Cypress arrived on Friday so we had to plant it Saturday.
That involved building a slide to get the pot onto the bridge
Then shoveling in a bunch of dirt.
Then getting in the water and planting the sapling.
After a while, we may not bother anymore. Right now, our plan for when we need to get in the water is this:
American Pond Gothic:
You can see the pot on the slide in the background. And the wheelbarrow full of dirt.
These waders have very thin soles so the lady is wearing Totes overboots; many sizes to large (the latest fashion).
The gentleman sports a pair of martial arts canvas shoes that did not need to be duct taped on.
We had to work quickly because as soon as we put the pot in the water, it would surely start to fill through the drain holes.
We did it, but then couldn’t slide the pot. Too heavy.
It’s a good thing because we have to reset the plant a bit deeper.
Next week we’ll use a rope to drag it across the bridge to the center.
Compare and contrast, though of course one will actually grow.
As we relaxed on Sunday, here’s a list of some of the things we didn’t do:
Shovel anything, bag sand, pound sand, powerwash, haul anything in the wheelbarrow, lay rocks, lift anything heavier than a griddle pan.
To fill in the lack of any back breaking work, here are some stats to date:
It’s about 10,000 gallons of water, based on the flow meters we put on the well pump.
60 cubic yards of sand; around 100 tons, more or less.
One ton of the round jack rock
5.5 tons of slate
1 ton of bagged slate pebbles (about 1/2 still to be used)
We didn’t over order anything so there’s nothing extra.
Nor did we come up short anywhere.
We were mostly lucky, not brilliant.
With some help we got the liner dimensions for the irregular shape to within a foot. (And half the cost of the first quote.)
We generated almost no trash so there is no landfill impact.
In fact we ended up using lots of spare stuff around the place for filler etc that would otherwise have gone to trash - old concrete borders tiles, etc.
And we’ve recycled the wood rafter three times already. And there’s a fourth use coming up.
We got this far almost entirely with a few hand tools. Plus the garden tractor and trailer, the neat birthday power saw, an occasional drill, and the rented rototiller. Ate through one pair of shoes and several pairs of gloves.
The pond is starting to take on a kind of personality.
- changes in sunlight affect the solar pump flow rate and the speed of the waterfall. it’s interesting to watch how it runs in total cloud cover, or a rain storm. Or goes like a spring flood in full sun.
- while it’s settling on its bio cycle, it changes color and clarity every day.
Here’s a picture at night.
Nope, we’re not nearly done.
There’s lots more to come so there’s no end in sight to the weekly updates.
Here’s an index of all the postings in #thegreatpoolpondconversion