Black Pond West
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This bed hugs the west side of Black Pond immediately south of the eastern border bed and is only 5 m2 in area. It is separated from the boundary fence by the pond and then its eastern twin so is not quite as shady. It has a 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 rampantly layered cornus and the pond was almost grown over with Iris pseudacorus, our native yellow 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!]. There was no bed on this side of the pond, the weedy grass going right to the pond edge. Two clumps of red stemmed cornus were cut back and retained when creating the bed.
A small amount of flag iris has been allowed to remain in the pond [and will need careful management to keep it under control] and a red water lily has been transferred from Top Pond to here. The water is much revived and used by a myriad of insects including water boatmen and dragonflies. It will hopefully be conducive to amphibian life in the future.
The longer term aim is to fill the bed with pond-side plants as is reflected in the bed's plant list. It is intended that the pond will remain a haven for wildlife. The context of this area within the garden can be found on the Plan and Areas page.
