EPISODE XV
HE SAID: We had five inches of rain in June 1997 while we tried to build our pond. Nor was it gentle rain. It was as if Mother Nature couldn't wait to contribute. It came in torrents that wanted to fill our excavation and level our mounds. It was heart breaking and frustrating. We couldn't work in standing water. And, being clay soil, it wasn't absorbed; it just sat there. Pumping the water out was only somewhat helpful. It still took days for the earth to dry.
SHE SAID: "1.14" heavy sustained rains for much of the night. No rocks moved and no top soil ran off the hills. There was some erosion but mostly in paths of the big equipment — all of which washed into the driveway.
I was watching rain with binoculars and couldn't sleep. When M. came home from work at midnight I told him not to worry — I'd already worried plenty for both of us. I even closed the bedroom windows because I was getting panicky at the sound of all that rain. M. went out with a flashlight at midnight to assess damage."
— from Linda's Garden Journal, 6-15-97
HE SAID: We finally had enough dry days in a row to finish carving the contours of the pond into the clay and we began to construct the concrete block edge. On top of three inches of "crushed limestone with fines," which we'd shoveled into the perimeter trench we had dug, we began to set solid — four-inch-thick — concrete blocks. I wanted the pond to have a solid edge that dropped straight down, both for safety and aesthetic reasons. I also hoped it would discourage animals, such as raccoons, from wading into the water — disturbing the plants and eating our fish.
We had planned to have the cement blocks delivered; but when we learned there would be a delay, we decided to pick them up ourselves. We moved ten tons of blocks in four truck loads. Jon, our landscape architect (above), hauled a ton in each of two loads with his Ford F-150. I managed a ton and a half in my F-350.
We had some help getting them into the truck beds at the brick yard; but once we got them back to our yard, we had to move them by hand into the bucket of the Bobcat — and then stack them in piles near the pond. In the end, between the two of us, we must have lifted forty tons of block over a couple of days!
The first course was the hardest because it had to be level. We would check for level using the laser transit every couple of blocks. Jon wanted the edge to be true within an eighth of an inch when we were finished. And it was!
And then it rained again.
SHE SAID: I would be at home looking out the window at the rainstorms while Mark was at work in the evenings. I'd go out on the deck in the dark between flashes of lightening, holding a big umbrella and a flashlight to see if any dirt had actually moved — as if I could do anything if it had!
HE SAID: In an effort to keep the top soil from being washed into the pond, I spread plastic sheeting over the Buddha Mound.
And I even had the bright idea of temporarily lining the pond with a plastic tarp! This proved to be worse than useless. I had thought that the clean, clear rainwater would collect on top of the tarp and that I would be able to pump it off easily. Beneath the tarp would be a dry hole that I could resume work in immediately.
The best laid plans ... etc. Not only did muddy water flow onto the tarp, but a significant amount found its way under the tarp. So, I not only had a wet work site but a very heavy, awkward and muddy tarp to deal with as well.
SHE SAID: In retrospect, it's easy to see that we were wrecks and not quite thinking straight. It was so frustrating to be spending time pumping water out of the half-finished pond day after day, working hard and getting nowhere.
But brighter days finally arrived.
To read the previous Odyssey episodes, click on My Garden Odyssey in the category list. Click on the photos to enlarge them so you can see the details.
