Last photos! The arbutus is doing great!!
I am a little worries that the damage it suffered from rutting deer last year will lead to disease. π€
But the hazelnut tree is budding!
#poolPond #Gardening #Spring #PortAlberni #Home #Pond #PandemicPond
rocks moved!
Managed to move the last of the larger rock off the blue tarp and spread it around the top of the pond. A tiny hope of mine is that this could be enough to stabilize the liner so that when I empty it of its (quickly algae-ifying) rain water, it doesn't bulge out from the sides. I doubt I will be that lucky so I will have to fill it with city water (chlorinated) to keep the algae and mosquitoes at bay while preserving the shape of the liner until the ground around it hardens up.
The rainy season is winding down!
thankfully i didnt have to use any city water to clean the rocks as I moved them. Just used the hose emptying water from the other ponds.
#poolPond #Gardening #Spring #PortAlberni #Home #Pond #PandemicPond
Things are growing in the backyard despite the continued #poolPond chaos.
Rhubarb is sprouting fast. A daffodil held on near the hazelnut tree even with all the disturbances.
And the young plum tree is budding!
I'm getting hyped up to shovel rocks into our new garden cart tomorrow.
No really, i think itβll be kinda therapeutic, even if it hurts a lot afterward. lol
It's been hard to even think about the #poolpond and the next steps for it, let alone do anything. So I really want to try to get some stuff done on Saturday.
#poolpond progress today as we approach spring. Need to clear out the backyard enough so I can get a local guy with a mini bulldozer to soread out and flatten out the dirt mountain.
I came to a realization over the winter that leaving the lining as is in the pool with just a bottom of gravel and nothing on the sides is definitely not an option.
Turns out if the hole is emptied in the rainy season, then water will drain into the gap between the lining and earth... bulging the lining out into the cavity. Nope. Not good. keeping water in it keeps things in place, but realstically winter and spring will be when I want to do cleaning and stuff.
So that means I must do my best rock wall building up the sides this spring once the surrounding ground dries. This was my original plan, but I had hoped to do it without grouting or cement. That was a mistake on my part that I learned in earnest in August.
So now, all the various rock sizes piled around the yard is not going anywhere.... BUT at least with the leftovers from the fence i have material to build some forms to help with the wall building....
So that's why my attention for preparing for spring will turn to reactivating the surrounding yard.
So I need to find a place closer to the house to move what rock is left. Ugh. heavy work. And I realized today that someone has taken our garden cart π’ boo.
oh well, onward we go! There is light at the end of the project!
And this my friends is why our #pandemicpond and #poolpond will never, ever, be connected to the house water system! Directly or with a βsensor' system, never. Ever.
If the pond looks a little low... you top it up from a rain barrel, or a tap... or you let it go low and wait for rain.
$6000 water bill is INSANE. Our quarterly bill is usually under $150 in the winter and under $300 in the summer months.
#water #waste #pond #DIY #gardening
https://cheknews.ca/saanich-couple-hit-with-nearly-6000-water-bill-after-hidden-leak-1290221/
I don't think I have twisted off the cap for the cleanout since I bought the whole assembly... 5months? I only slid the end into the pipe in August so hadn't needed to screw off the cap. It took some leverage/persuasion to turn it.
But I was successful, and now the big filter can be drained. The water was actually higher than the bottom of the cap but no big deal, it's not really under any pressure.
#poolpond #diy #backyardproject #portalberni #gardening #pondlife
emptied the pond overnight. We have had so much rain this past month! All are full. I am going to drain it all and keep it drained until I get the pumps wired and can habe them installed and running. Don't want the water to get stale and unhealthy.
I think I might hire a stone mason to build the wall.
moving the pump into the intake bay now. It should be empty by the time I am back from the day's ceremonies.
#poolpond #diy #backyardproject #portalberni #gardening #pondlife
Chris AlemanyπΊπ¦π¨π¦πͺπΈ