Higher Morwell Pond Project
The pond is still in the
planning stage but looks
set to be dug out here.
The conifers are not
looking too good and do
spoil our view of the
north end of the garden.
Unfortunately there are
some rather large marble
rocks around the base of
the trees which may not
be so straightforward to
move.
29th September 2016. The
cypress on the left is
composed of many vertical
branches (fastigiate) and
should be relatively easy to
deal with. The one on the
right however has two major
trunks and will probably need
professional felling. Then
comes the long job of cutting
and chopping the logs. We
are removing and burning the
smaller lower branches on
the bonfire, keeping larger
pieces to burn in the
chimenea.
25th January 2017, Matt Dustan
has felled the sickly cypress and
is cutting the two trunks into
manageable pieces for us. Once
cleared we will make a start on
taking down the other tree
branch by branch.
Still not finalised where the
pond will be but probably
around about where that pile of
logs is building up on the right.
During the building
works we had the use
of a digger and driver
- so got the cypress
stump taken out
without too much
personal stress!
There is now a
promising hole which
may just become the
start of the pond.
Breaking the stump
up however isn’t so
easy, stones trapped
in the roots soon
blunt the chainsaw
attack. Slow progress
but good bonfire
food.
September 2017 and
the last branches of
the cypress beside the
projected pond area
have been removed.
The stump needs a
fair bit of attention to
reduce it to something
that we might use
partly as a seat or just
flattened as a table.
Of course the hole
from the first stump
removal is now full of
plants taking over, but
easily tamed. We
think.
July 2018, a very dry
spell, and we’ve cut
away most of the
unwelcome wild
growth here. The
sedum on the right
will be moved when
it has flowered and
the magnificent
teasel will be dug
out when it has
ceased amusing the
bees. The stones will
be fully uncovered
and a plan made of
the final shape and
depth of the pond
itself. The GWR
platform seat will
eventually face the
pond!
The problem of the stump was
solved by enlisting the help of
Mike Cann and his digger. After
a job next door on 7th
September he came in, and in
minutes heaved the stump
straight out of the ground. The
grass soon healed and we filled
the holes in that were left by
the hydraulic jacks. Then all I
had to do was cut it all up, a
very slow task as the chainsaw
isn’t that big. But it did make
plenty of burnable logs for the
fire. And the bonus was the
hole left by the uprooted
stump as a basis for the first
pond.
By 15th October
the stump had
been cut up and
removed, and this
was how the pond
area sat waiting
until time was
found to start
digging it into the
shape we wanted.
This was the next time any work
was done on the pond, 8th May
2020. Other projects and
maintenance just came first.
The weeds, brambles, nettles and
wild strawberries have completely
taken over making the job much
harder. Voles built runs and holes
all over the place but soon moved
out when activity started.
The first version was nowhere near
deep enough so more digging and
stone removal was necessary to
create a suitably deep shape for
the upper pond, and the bank built
up as the whole site is on a slope.
The lower pond is on the left of
the bottom-left picture taken on
28th May 2020, and has still to be
fully de-weeded but the essential
shape is there. The hope is to
install a pump to gently move
water from bottom to top to keep
the waterfall running.
24th June 2020, and the lower
pond has been dug out as
well. The pond is just about
ready for a final measure for
the liner, which may not be so
easy to source at the moment
as everywhere seems to be
saying “sold out due to
demand”. We can’t delay too
long - the weeds will take
over again.