I could not imagine my garden without my pond. It brings the whole garden to life. It is the centre of the garden, both literally and spiritually. Everyone and everything is drawn to it. It provides water to everything from the local village cats and polecats, to bees and butterflies.
In spite of so many visitors, there has never been any damage, or loss of fish. This has surprised me, as the fish are so tame, they come to investigate any person or animal that comes to the pond. I often watch as the fish come and nibble my cat's whiskers, whilst she is drinking from the pond. Like John J's cats, my cats much prefer the pond water to tap water.
Pauline, my pond is 4 metres long by 2 metres wide and is 1 metre deep. I wanted it deeper than the ponds I had in England, as I didn't want the water to overheat in summer. It is also big enough to find it's own balance, which makes maintenance easy.
It was simple to get it 1 metre deep as it is a raised pond. This meant that excavation was minimal. It was built with concrete blocks in a rectangle incorporating two planting shelves for marginals.
It was impossible to find the pond liner, underlay, filter pump and even planting baskets here in Crete, so they all came from England.
The tiles for the sides were sourced locally and the stone on the top came cut to my specification from a local quarry.
I didn't want the cascade to be too strong because water lilies will not grow if the water surface is too agitated. Also, the sound of trickling water is a lot more soothing than a strong waterfall.
The junction box for the electrics is behind the pond on the right hand side. My husband made a wooden box for it.
I also found that marginal plants took over in England, but that has not been my experience here in Crete. They are much more well behaved here.
They add a lot of beauty to the pond and provide perching places for the many dragonflies.
My decision to have a raised pond, was because as I grow older, I find it a lot easier to maintain the pond from the sides. No bending or kneeling. It also means that it is easy to sit on the side of the pond with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and dream.
Hope this helps.
Daisy