| 5/21/07 The 1/2 empty pond before any work had begun |
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| 5/22/07 We drew a line (which I later revised) - AM only |
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| 5/23/07 The bobcat came while I was away from home. Again, AM only |
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| 5/24/07 This was not a good day - it's beginning to look like an above ground pool. I said not to do it this way but they did anyway. This is not going to be allowed to continue. The worst end has a 22 inch rise over a 60 inch spread which I calculate as a 20° slope above and beyond the inherent slope. |
 
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| 5/25/07 The boss comes and I showed how much lower I want the pond. That was it for the day. (Had he planned the mound?) |
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| 5/29/07 It's been several days but they've re- started. After undoing 5/25's work, digging deeper starts. |
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| 5/30/07 They start late, but the new line is beginning to become obvious. 1/2 day |
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| 5/31/07 There will be a rocky slope on the west end of the pond so that it is even with the east end. Now this makes sense. |
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| 6/1/07 Rain last night mandated 3 hours of work just to undo damage. Later, the mound of extra soil/sand is beginning to go away. |
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| 6/2/07 They came on Saturday and did the final shaping - but will Monday's tropical storm destroy this progress? The filter has been delivered too. The raised level in the middle is for rocks that will raise above water level. The insets are for pots of bog plants. |
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| 6/4/07 The storm caused far less damage than I had feared. Also, a small dam kept much of the storm water from pouring in. |
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| 6/5/07 They spent the AM repairing storm damage. Then the liner was stretched out & put in place. To push the liner against the sides, water was added. It took 3 hours using 2 hoses. The rocks along the edges look great but are just there now to hold the liner in place. They'll be arranged better tomorrow. I see a fold that could be pulled out but the foreman assures me it can't be. I don't understand, but won't fight this one as I did the height battle. |
 
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| 6/6/07 I worked all day and had little time for photos. You can see the rocks are being spread over a gravel bed. No gravel will show in the end. |
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| 6/7/07 I came home from my annual plant hunt through Connecticut to find that the rock walls are being built up. Also, I believe this is the final water level. They have yet to finish the waterfall but I might have some of the water trickle down under the Thujopsis. |
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| 6/8/07 I came home after work to find more rock work done and a waterfall in place with water running. I've been advised against a second fall under the Thujopsis. The river is yet to come. It will hide the hose coming from the pump. I'm impressed at how the mound behind the fall blends in. |
 
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| 6/16/07 I was gone for a few days & came back to find the river completed and the liner cut back. Tomorrow I'll start working on the adjacent garden. |
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| 6/17/07 No new work but I needed to post some photos sun on the river. There's also a photo of the biological filter. |
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| 6/20/07 The pond has been drained and the step stones have been placed. The pumps are visible but reportedly will be hidden with stone. |
 
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| 6/21/07 Stones are hiding the pipes. There aren't any platforms (yet) for lilies & lotus pots. I want them added before the pond is refilled. I've added the first plant . |
 
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| 6/26/07 It's been a few days. The pond was refilled and I've planted 2 lilies, 1 lotus on the platforms and 2 canna on the sun ledges. The step stones don't look great yet, but will look better when algae begins to grow. |
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| 7/15/07 I'll hold off on another photo essay until after the adjacent beds are planted, mulched and the grass grows. But here are a couple short movies of the pond in action: |
Quicktime - (you have to
load the entire movie before viewing) Movie 1 Movie 2 |
| 8/1/07 The grass surrounding the pond isn't growing tremendously well - perhaps because it was planted in sand rather than topsoil - here goes another expense. Otherwise things are getting better. Here are some of the lilies & critters: |
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| 8/2/07 The pond's beginning to look pretty good at night too (but clearly needs local spot lights instead of the massive whole-yard lighting). |
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