Black Pond East
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This bed hugs the east side of Black Pond immediately south of the eastern border bed and is only 8 m2 in area. It too lies up against the boundary fence so is quite a shady bed with reasonable, somewhat damp soil :
We were not even aware that Black Pond existed when we took over in 2015 because the area was so overgrown with weeds and rampant cornus and the pond was almost completely choked with Iris pseudacorus, our native flag iris. We called it 'Black' Pond because the bottom of the pond was so full of decaying leaves that the water was black and lifeless [and very sulphurous!]. It was the end of 2017 before the bed was sufficiently cleared to think about planting up. [About half a ton, wet weight, of iris had to be removed!] In clearing up, however, a maybe 10 year old ash sapling - now showing signs of die-back - was retained with a large clump of Leucojum aestivum at its base, as was a limited number of the cornus and a field of rogersia, assumed to be Rogersia podophylla. A few iris were also left in the pond.
Not that much has been planted yet while the ongoing battle with weeds continues. The longer term aim is to provide a back-drop to the pond with a narrow path winding through the bed. What has been planted can be found in the Black Pond East plant list and the context of this area within the garden can be found on the Plan and Areas page.
