Readers' Gardens

Email from Sally Hearn, Wildings Water Garden, Hadspen

To Peter May, The photo attached is a picture of my client Edward Hobhouse's gold koi fish welcoming the first warm day of spring - on the 31st March. The water garden was installed several years ago whenWildings water garden, Hadspen the garden enjoyed a re-birth. I have worked here for nearly seven years and Edward jestingly, (I hope) calls me his lazy gardener! Which is why I'm sending you two photo's of the water garden the Hobhouse family and myself lovingly tend - with a message to all 'lazy gardeners' -

A Water Garden is a lazy gardeners, 'must have'. The virtues of the summer pond / water feature are easily extolled; and my chosen spot for lolling away warm summer days - but when there's little going on in the flower beds, the trees are stark and the shrubs look like dead sticks; the power and beauty of the water garden comes into its own. The reflected colour and hues of winter and early spring skies enjoy central stage; add some wind, and a million watery visions, images and illusions pass before your eyes - no effort needed. Add some gold and silver koi fish and the spell is cast. There isn't a gardener on this earth who could compete - and once established, very little work is required and it never needs digging. . .

from Sally Hearn ( lazy gardener)

The pond 'before' but after the lightning strikeLightning!!! That’s why I decided to upgrade my pond. A bad electrical storm killed all my orfe, roach and gudgeon in my pond. Fortunately all the Koi and goldfish survived, though only just as they were gasping for air.
Electrical storms do something to ponds and the oxygen within, so I was informed by my local aquatics centre, proof is I lost 20 fish overnight from what seemed a healthy pond.

That’s when I decided to upgrade my 2 pond and stream system, that was present when I purchased the house.

The top pond and stream were immediately replaced and, and an intermediate pond was also introduced, which I will talk about later. The stream had to be replaced, because when I purchased a more suitable pump, Laguna 11000, the stream flooded out onto the garden as it couldn’t cope with the volume of water.

THE TOP POND

The top pond was pretty straight forward, a simple 2 foot deep kidney bean shaped affair, immediately outside my conservatory. Here I wanted a nice effect of running water, with a splash of colour.