Work began on the construction of our new garden on Tuesday 18th June, 2002, and took nearly 2 months. A local landscaping company planned the garden and completed the work (although I designed the pond). This page includes a history of the construction as well as a continuing history of the pond and the fish included (probably).
Before
Our old garden and the small pond we took over from the previous owners Mike and Janet.
Week 1
Okay, now the work is starting and for the next few days the garden (and drive) will look like a bomb site. The landscapers are constantly in and out of the house consuming vast amounts of liquid to fuel their valiant attempts at dealing with a koi lover who knows what he wants!
Day 1
Day 3
So you can see the basic outline of the decking now which will take up most of the left side (looking down the garden from the house) of the garden and have a raised pond set into it.
Week 2
Although lots of work was done at the end of the first week, the garden didn't look much different. So we move on to the first day of the second week.
Day 7
Now you can see the outline of the pond as they dug down a couple of the feet. As the pond will be 28" above the decking level this is about as low as it needs to go (you can see the level of the decking at the back as it'll be on top of that wood back there).
Day 11
Well, we're back from a short trip to Spain now and the work has come on a bit. The pond area has been completely dug out, the bottom drains and pipe work laid and the concrete base set over them. You can also see the decking supports in a couple of places. Alfie the cat enjoys his new play pen!
Week 3
We lost a lot of time in this week as the weather finally turned against us, although the decking started.
Day 17
The pond has been taking shape over the last few days, and the decking has started!
Day 20
Well not much happened at the end of the week because of all the rain, so here's some pictures in our garage showing the holding / quarantine tank (with fish waiting for the pond to be built) and the filter / vortex, etc.
Day 22
Still not much happening because of the weather, but the pond walls are higher and the trellising has started.
Week 4
The weather turned back to sunshine and things start coming together. The lawn arrives and fibre glassing on the pond starts
Day 24
Some sunshine today and some progress. The pond is now pretty much at full height and the RTF surface skimmer is in place with it's 3" pipe work.
Day 27
Some nice weather and some turf and it's looking like a garden again!
Week 5
Things are coming together now. The pond starts looking like a pond and a path is laid.
Day 31
The pond fibre glassing is finished and the path starts. Plus the vortex and filter are moved out of the garage and into position.
Week 6
This should have been the last week of the project (some hope!) after the weather and holidays slowed things down. The pond has started to come together. Sadly a bacterial disease has killed many of the fish waiting to go into the pond which will set back stocking a few weeks. Despite constant treatment over a couple of weeks we lost all our favourites. A very sad time.
Day 42
The trellis is all around the garden now, the pond is full and the big filters are running, the lawn is settled in and annuals laid in the border at the back of the house, the path and steps up to the side of the house are done and in the last picture you can see some of the pond equipment (electrical points, 2 UV's and a in-line venturi).
Week 8 / The Final Garden
Finally! After practically 2 months they've gone! All the work is done. We can park on our drive again! Here are the results....
