Like a lot of people, I enjoy being near water, and we are not far from the sea here on the Kaikoura foothills; but I have often dreamed of being able to sit by my very own pond (complete with ducks and trout), and so for some time I had been turning over different layouts and designs in my mind - trying to visualise a large pond in front of the farmhouse...
In the year 2000 I decided to put the plan into action. I originally intended to get a professional landscaper in to work on the design, but after studying many articles in magazines and on the web, and viewing some local ponds, I decided in the end to do it myself, but to take advice from as many people as possible. During all of the coming work, I relied heavily upon the Wwoofers and farm-helpers for physical manpower, and they also provided a lot of creative ideas.
Michael, one of our Wwoofers from Australia, teaches permaculture and has won awards for landscaping; he helped enormously with the design and shape of the pond by drawing up a plan and suggesting different varieties of trees and where to plant them. Michael got me interested in trying to create an environment where many varieties of fruit trees would feed both us and the local birdlife. We hoped that a large body of water would create a more moderate temperature so that we could experiment with semi-subtropical fruit trees. Large rocks placed among the trees should retain heat from the sunny winter days and prevent frost damage in the evenings.
In March 2000 contractors started with the excavator, and by the end of the day there was a pond-shaped hole dug. The next day we extended the hole, digging around some existing trees, and creating a 10 x 4m island; the hole ended up 20 x 15m wide and between 1 - 2m deep, with a 5m peninsula.
Clay was trucked in from the hillside on the farm and I levelled and compacted four inches of it over the sides and floor of the hole with a wheel tractor.
For some of the steeper sides round the island, where the tractor could not go, we just trampled the clay with our boots.
We collected boulders (up to a ton in weight) from a nearby river-bed with the tractor, and man-handled them into position, using a spirit level and sighting-pegs to mark the position of the waterline. Our intention was to leave the rocks partially exposed, as we had also placed stepping stones across to the island, and after filling the pond we were happy with the result.
The rocks placed in the pond are dark grey, while those surrounding the pond are covered in green moss, and they blend in with the existing rocks in the garden. There is a cluster of sandstone rocks on the far side of the pond.
Top-soil was trucked in and spread three inches thick over the clay walls in order to help the water become clearer quicker, and also improve its appearance.
We placed two twelve-inch outlet pipes in the wall of the pond - one is higher than the other, to give us flexibility regarding the desired water level and also to provide insurance in the event that the lower outlet becomes blocked! We also placed a four inch outlet in the bed of the hole, which can be opened if we ever need to drain the pond.
The water supply is piped from a farm creek to the lower side of the house. From here we built a stream across the lawn, to the edge of the pond, where we constructed a waterfall from rocks found on the farm. We can run 60 litres per minute into the pond. We tried to make the stream look natural by digging a winding trench and lining it with moss covered rocks and shingle from local creeks.
We have planted a hedge of New Zealand natives to protect our pond and surrounding trees from the strong nor' west winds we experience here. Once the hedge is established, rhododendrons will be planted extensively in its shade, alongside persimmon, advocado and nashi trees. We regularly transplant punga ferns from the wild to shady areas.
On the sunnier sides, I will be experimenting with semi-subtropical fruit trees underplanted with strawberry and varieties of currants - kiwi fruit, guava and passion fruit already grow well here.
We have constructed a path that winds around the pond leading to seating on the water edge; the path has been grassed initially, but this will be replaced in time with bark or gravel as the trees start shading it.
To the left is how the pond looked in Sept 2000 six months after starting the project, and below is how it looked in April 2003.
