I wanted to order some topsoil to be delivered this weekend but unfortunately I couldn't get through to the local Company and so I had to go the expensive way and bought 4 bags from The Range (£5 each) and then another 5 bags from Home Bargains (£3 each). I obviously didn't realise it would be cheaper at Home Bargains so it's certainly worth checking if you do need to do some of that. I was also able to use the top soil that Mr L dug out for the pond.
When we got to the plot, Mr L's plan was to mark out the pond but he wasn't going to dig the hole; he even took some tarpaulin up to so that he could cover it in the corner to avoid it being stolen! Once he got there however, he marked it and started digging and just carried on until it was done. He had watched some videos on YouTube but essentially he put the pond where I'd decided I want it and used some marking paint to mark the middle (deepest) section. He then dug that section until it was nearly deep enough and dropped the pond into it to mark the shelves and continued digging. Once he'd dug out the hole he then kept putting the liner back in to check where it was snagging and cutting extra bits out. Finally he put some of the clay back into the hole to get it level. Because the plot is on a slight slope the edge closest to where the shed is going to be is raised out of the ground but we'll use the clay to bank up against it and cover it with rocks.
I'm also intending to use an old plank or tree branch to ensure that any little critters falling in can climb out again! I've read that the best way to make sure hedgehogs and even frogs can get out is to cover the plank with chicken wire so I'm going to try that but I'll need to make sure it's on properly with no sharp bits because I don't want something hurting itself trying to get out!! I've also positioned the pond so that the exit ramp will come out near a woodpile, which I want to put in place too to ensure that anything coming out of the pond has somewhere to hide to avoid getting roasted in the sun (apparently something that happens regularly to little frogs). Before I put any plants into the pond I'm going to do some research, I want to have only indiginous plants in my pond and I'm not going to have any fish because I don't want them to eat the frogspawn. I will however have a little fountain because I love the sound of the water and I hope it will help to keep the water clear and moving. I'm also going to look into a way to have an overflow from my waterbutt going into the pond.
As Mr L was busying himself with the pond, I was focussing on my fruit bed. I covered it with cardboard last week and this week I wanted to get the topsoil and compost in. I did want to get some manure on it too but because everyone is getting ready for winter all of the manure has been wiped out so I had to make do with what I had! I cut the cardboard to size and had a quick peak under to see if having it covered for a week had made any difference to the weeds - I'm happy to report that I could already see the benefit and I'm hoping that it will help with what is essentially a very weedy plot! As I previously said I had 9 bags of topsoil (35l each) that I bought and the rest was the spoil from the pond, As Mr L dug out the top soil, I worked through it and got out all of the perenial weeds and roots so that I could use it in my fruit bed, which was my project for the day. I had to be really careful with that because there were some really big tap roots from both dock and dandylion in there. I took out all of the big roots and (I hope) all of the little ones too. I also have 2 compost bins full of well rotted compost and so Littlest L was put to work sieving the compost making sure she took out anything that hadn't broken down yet as well as some stones that had managed to get in there. We got 2 wheelbarrows full which went onto the bed.
I made the decision that because I will be putting the fruit cage back onto that bed, and I intend to leave it on, that I would use a weed membrane to try and keep the weeds down on that bed. I therefore covered it before planting my fruit bushes. I have put 4 raspberry canes, 1 blackcurrent and 2 gooseberries in to the bed. My plan is to eventually also mulch it heavily; again in an attempt to keep the weeds down - I'll let you know if my plan works as we get back to spring and the year progresses! Mr L put my raspberry supports up before he left to give the little L's their dinner and I stayed to plant the fruit. I also covered one of my rotation beds with cardboard and used a little bit of topsoil that I had left to weight it down.
I'm hope that when I get back from the States the weather won't be too awful so that I can finish the pond and get the rest of my rotation beds in place before winter really sets in. I also want to cover as much of the rest of the plot as I can, either with weed membrane for where I'm going to have my paths or (temporarily) some carpet that I've pinched from a neighbour to put in the area that I'm planning to put my polytunnel and additional beds. I know that some people don't like using carpets for this because of the potential that chemicals might leach into the soil but it is not my intention to leave them for very long so they will just be a temporary fix until I can get everything in place over the winter or in early spring.
Thanks for reading again, you won't hear from me next week because my flight doesn't land until Sunday morning after a night flight so I'll probably be too tired to go up to the plot - having said that, you never know; I might go to keep me awake until bed time!!
Have a good week
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