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My Greek island pond

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Pauline

  • Jr. Member
My Greek island pond
« on: January 07, 2015, 01:26:33 PM »
The construction of my pond was recently completed, but I shan't be filling it just yet.  :-\





« Last Edit: January 07, 2015, 01:31:06 PM by Pauline »
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An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.
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Fleur Pavlidis

  • Global Moderator
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Re: My Greek island pond
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2015, 04:47:01 PM »
Snow in Andros! We haven't had any that has settled here 10 k south of Sparoza but my ponds have frozen twice.
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MGS member, Greece. I garden in Attica, Greece and Mt Goulinas (450m) Central Greece

David Dickinson

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Re: My Greek island pond
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2015, 01:36:15 AM »
Just shovel the snow into the pond and wait for it to melt!  ;D
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I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

Trevor Australis

  • Sr. Member
Re: My Greek island pond
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2015, 08:16:02 AM »
Fill it with water as soon as any danger of freezing is past. It will take some time for the concrete to give up its strongly alkaline salts so it needs to soak for a few weeks - or you could paint it thoroughly with pond sealer. Even so the water will take a while to settle which it must do before you introduce fish and plants - usually people put the plants in first and wait another week before introducing fish.
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M Land. Arch., B. Sp. Ed. Teacher, traveller and usually climate compatible.

Daisy

  • Sr. Member
Re: My Greek island pond
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2015, 08:23:32 AM »
That is a brilliant photo Pauline. It looks as though you have been having similar weather as here on Crete.
All this week we have been having snow, hail, thunder, lightning, really strong winds, earthquakes and power outages.
The epicentre of the nearest earthquake was less than 10 kilometers away, which was interesting. ::)
My husband and I went into the nearest town yesterday. The three neighbouring villages which are on the route into town, had a lot more snow than we have.
Coming home through a blizzard was fun. My husband who was driving, managed quite a few slides and wheel spins. Of course, that wouldn't have happened had I been driving, as I LOVE driving in the snow and am good at it ::) ::) ::)
Daisy :)
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Amateur gardener, who has gardened in Surrey and Cornwall, England, but now has a tiny garden facing north west, near the coast in north east Crete. It is 300 meters above sea level. On a steep learning curve!!! Member of both MGS and RHS
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Pauline

  • Jr. Member
Re: My Greek island pond
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2015, 11:42:40 AM »
Yes, that's a perfect description of our recent conditions, Daisy. Minus the earthquakes (we're mercifully not too prone to them here) but with nine power cuts in twenty-four hours. We will definitely be getting a generator.

I believe the pond has been painted with a sealer but hey, how would I know what it was they used? The people who made it have open cisterns, however, and they keep goldfish in them to keep the mosquito population in check. We have a supply of spring-water, so I'll use that to fill it and see how we go. By the time I manage to get hold of any plants I'm sure the water will be a beautiful shade of jade green.

Frozen ponds! Aargh! I gave away the pond-heater I had in Belgium, thinking I wouldn't need it here. Grrr. Can't find my water-testing strips either. But I will get there in the end. Oh yes.

I do like the idea of filling it with snow, by the way, but nothing would tempt me out of the house at the moment.  :o  We live on a hillside, and I doubt I'd ever be able to get the car up and out of our road.


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An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.
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JTh

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Re: My Greek island pond
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2015, 12:31:36 PM »
How strange, here in Oslo we have 2-3 degrees plus now, no snow at all, while the temperature near our place in Halkidiki, northern Greece, was -7 this morning.
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Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.
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John J

  • Hero Member
Re: My Greek island pond
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2015, 12:57:05 PM »
No snow at this altitude but ice on our pond this morning.
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Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)
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Pauline

  • Jr. Member
Re: My Greek island pond
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2015, 08:07:36 PM »
I just thought I'd mention, John J, that I was spurred by your comment to find out my own altitude and have added it to my info. It turns out that it's not a lot different from yours.  :)

Meanwhile I have filled my pond with rain water collected from the roof, and have now observed that in force 10 winds even a small pond has waves.  :-\

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An amateur and a complete novice in mediterranean stuff, attempting to establish a garden in Andros, Cyclades, Greece. We're about 45m above sea level. Steep learning curve? Vertical straight line.
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