Sunday, July 22, 2012

The hole that was to become a pond - the beginnings

The beginning….
For the past few weeks I have been doing some landscaping in the back part of my folks property. It all started a couple of springs ago while walking around the yard, visiting with my mom when she showed me a tree that wasn’t doing too well.
“It’s getting far too wet in this spot. We need to dig it up and move it soon or it is going to die.”
My natural response was to grab a shovel and take care of it right then. So, I did.
After we moved the tree to a nearby spot that was at a high enough elevation that the water draining from the neighbors wasn’t keeping it soaked, I walked back to the hole. Or rather, HOLES. It took a few efforts of digging to find an area dry enough for the tree. They were full of water, right to the top edge of the hole.
Next idea.
In my brilliants I think, “Well wouldn’t this be a great place for a natural pond!” So here’s where it all began. I started digging…and digging….and digging. Armed with nothing more than a shovel, wheelbarrow, and with no plan or outline. No idea, really, as to what the hell I was doing at all. Just digging.
This went on for a while whenever I had free time, and while the weather permitted. Along the way I also planted a wonderful Sycamore Maple called Eskimo Sunset (Acer pseudoplatanus) nearby. Eventually it became too wet and cold to continue for the year. (The hole was, yes, full of water.) Then, as does happen, life became a bit busy and I forgot about my giant hole, not yet a pond, in the back part of my folk’s property. Eventually a tub was tossed in it that was pulled out of my grandparents place when we remodeled it, and weeds and grass overtook the area. My poor, poor pond-to-be had become about as trashy as can be. Eventually the tub was disposed of and the grass around it kept down for the­ most part. See, it had this pistachio-esk shape which made it difficult to cut the grass down with the riding lawnmower in the elbow of the hole. This brings us pretty well up to date on my “little” project.


The last few weeks…