A previous blog described the problems we have been having with one of our ponds that had developed a leak. This was back in August and ever since then we have been trying to get it fixed.
Having removed the liner the base of the pond was dug out further ready for a concrete base. 
The next stage was to get the sides and base to dry out ready for fiber-glassing. This meant we have had to put plastic sheeting over the pond.
If you look at the above pictures you can see that we have taken the opportunity of this disruption to revive the bed beyond the pond. The very large rose in the centre of that bed is Rosa omeiensis pteracantha. This wild rose has very wide, decorative, reddish prickles that sit on a long base on the young shoots. It is therefore also known as barbed wire rose. The flowers are typical “wild rose” type and always flower early in spring.
The rose does get huge and we decided to cut it down to the ground and let it shoot up again. Within a couple of weeks it was vigorously shooting.
Meanwhile the water lily plants from the pond have been sitting on some spare ground.
New planting cages were obtained together with aquatic compost to plant up the water lilies. We then just waited wand waited for the fiber-glassing company to arrive. Then at last they came last Saturday and what a change they made.
Fiber-glassing is an excellent way to water proof a pond. There is no untidy liner to worry and leaks (if they occur) can easily be repaired.
Connections for the pump and electrics can also be done through the side of the pond which gives a much more tidy solution compared with a liner.
The pump has been connected up and will supply a water feature which empties into the rill. The various terracotta chimney pots are just to provide some shelter for any fish and the stack of blocks in the corner is a shelf for marginal plants. 
And then at last the pond was filled!
The water lilies were planted up in the new plant cages
and placed in the pond. There are basically to varieties, a red and a white one. They are both quite vigorous and are suitable for a pond of this size. So we now need to sort out the marginals and also finalise the water feature to restore the pond to it former glory:
This week we have also had the first frosts of winter. Looking again at the dahlias,
see what the frost has done. However, I will not feel so bad about digging them up now!
| Gardening Hours | ||
| This week | Total since June 19th | Average per week |
| 17 | 417 | 21 |
Wow – how nice to have a functioning pond again. It all looks great, and I learned something new. I will definitely look into fiberglassing – it seems a far superior solution to using liners. Thank you for this! Oh, and I envy your rose. I have seen them in gardens around here, but they get too big for my garden. But when the light hits its massive thorned branches it is indeed a sight to behold. A lovely, lovely plant!
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An interesting rose but not for small gardens. The thorns can be lethal!
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Great work, Steve, it must be very satisfying to know the job has been done so well. Poor, dahlias, but I’m also pleased to see the back of mine with the return of frosty weather. Your rose sounds like a beautiful beast, I shall look out for it.
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Thanks, it took a long time (may chose a different contractor next time) but it looks like we can get the pond back to where it was
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A brilliant job done. We have a similar problem this year but on a much smaller scale, hoping to get it sorted in the next couple of weeks. Sue
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I would always go for glass fiber now. This is the second pond to be done that way. A bit more expensive but the final product is better.
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Wonderful job with the pond. I love how this project turned out.
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Thanks, As I said there is a bit more to do which I hope to complete on Wednesday
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Steve, I’ve really enjoyed a virtual visit to your lovely garden this evening, and am impressed by your discipline of recording hours spent in the garden. I wonder if you’ve both been surprised by how much/little this figure is? After setting myself the additional (actually quite onerous), enjoyable challenge of noting my favourite 12 plants in the garden through the year, every fortnight, I did wonder about moving onto trying to record just what we do in the garden every week – partly out of interest, and partly to help any future custodian ( or more likely put most people off ever purchasing the place!)
Hugely impressed by how much you raised on your open day, as well,
best wishes
Julian
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Thanks for your kind comments. When we open our garden I always am asked “how many hours a week do you spend on the garden” To be honest I always assumed it would be high up to the open day and then quite low as we would have the garden perfect on that day. Well it is currently running at around 20 hours a week so who knows what it will be before the next open day!
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