3 ponds become 2

Making 3 ponds in 2013 turned out okay. They accomplished the intended purpose of allowing really soggy land to dry out enough to walk over without wearing high boots, but the water didn't want to flow from one to the next along the path we had planned. At least we'd had time to mull things over. Over the winter both Jeb and I had come up with a few ideas and, with dryer land, Jeb was able to do in 2014 what was not possible the summer before. He would go home at night, but his work horse stayed in the yard. By the time he finished I was thinking of his orange Kubota as a member of the family!

Looking down from my deck, there is Jeb and his dog looking over a pile of rocks they had uncovered while digging. There are actually 4 ponds in this picture! The furthest one is the beaver pond, on my land, but designated as a federal wetland. The next pond with the white dinghy floating in it is being connected to the smaller pond above it. Then there is a perennial garden, not yet very colorful because it is too early for the red bee balm to be blooming. To the right of this garden is the smallest pond. We now refer to it as the "silt pond" because we hope that eventually it will catch the dirt and keep most of it out of the big pond.

All of the dirt between these two ponds is going to disappear! It will eventually raise the level of the field and some will be carried up the hill to increase the more level part of my yard by the house. The raised beds in the foreground are my original veggie garden. The ones below have been added this year and not completed in this picture.

Even this year the ground where the Kubota is working was wet enough to be treacherous. Note the pile of rocks on the right. Amazing things will happen in that area,,, 

This is looking up from the bottom of the field. There's Jake in the background checking out the silt pond. The pile of rocks has become a waterfall and a terrace, but the yard is an awful mess.

And the mess wasn't just at the bottom of the field. A lot of that dirt was coming up the hill!

Cleaning off the stones is a minor problem. How do you turn this ground into lawn? We hired a fellow with a machine to push the sticks and small stones into the earth, smooth the ground and then add grass seed and mulch.

The bottom ring of stones was the level of last summer's pond. It's hard to see, but in the middle of this pond is a BIG rock.

It's easier to spot that monster rock with water around it!

As the pond fills, the rock disappears, but it's always there. Someday I hope to be in a bathing suit and standing on it.

In the close foreground are red tomato cages. For the pond there is a gravel "beach" and stone steps into the water.

I found a purple chair! The water may be muddy, but things are looking a lot better.

A simple stone wall separates my planting space from the forest. The silt pond now has a stone walkway around it.

That's one of 2 willow bushes (pot in right background) we planted. They should grow 8 feet tall and 8 feet around. We don't want to have to mow behind the silt pond...the ground is still awfully wet...so hopefully we can fill that area with some spectacular plants.

The terrace wasn't pre-planned. Jeb found bedrock that couldn't be moved, so he turned a lemon into lemonade. It's an absolutely delightful place to sit and listen to the waterfall. Later in the summer Mary found a matching purple chair so company can join me.

Vera and Maryann who work at the high school during the school year help me keep my perennial gardens going. They helped me get over 75 plants in the ground around the pond areas. I'm looking forward to next year's show.

The red bee balm is blooming in the perennial garden. We planted some behind the silt pond where it will have room to spread.