Kerole's Pond Project

5 Jun '08 9:10 pm

Here's a few more pics of the type of plantings I'm putting in around the pond - quite a bit of limey green but I need more dark reddish things. I have plenty more trees to get this winter too - I was thinking Tupelos for the margins and scarlet oaks farther back, along with a few tulip trees, and some golden ash... to name a few!

5 Jun '08 9:41 pm

I'm enjoying having a whole new garden to explore, Kerole!

Help us: you've got a stream and a towpath. Does that mean that the stream is both big enough and 'level' enough to drag a barge down? Or is the term used for any path that follows a stream? Looking at your pics I get the impression it is the latter. That is a lovely shot of your pond (and please forgive me if I inadvertently call it a dam, which is the term we use here, much to the horror of some on Moosey! Very Happy

And then kahikateas - they seem to be some kind of conifer, a Podocarpus perhaps? We have some delightful names in Africa, but the musicality of the Maori tongue (or is that tongues?) is truly charming! Is it pronounced -tea as in Ceylon or as in -te-a?

And whilst on the topic of pronunciation: is your name pronounced the same as 'Carol'?

6 Jun '08 8:37 am

Firstly, the tow path. Prior to reaching the pond, the stream is 3 to 4m across (having traveled through our boundary fence from the neighbouring property). This section of the stream is 40m long and then it turns a corner and fattens out into the pond. The tow path was initially made for the digger to travel along when it scraped the pond out and now it serves as a level(ish) path. In theory you could pull a barge along but going up and down such a short piece of stream would be kinda frustrating!

Secondly, the kahikateas - NZ white pines. Thanks to Dixie for her lovely pics. These are a Podocarp or should I say were... their name has been changed to Dacrycarpus dacrydioldes. They are one of NZs tallest trees (along with the truly majestic Kauri) but are slow growers. In the mean time they make a nice conical shaped evergreen. The females trees produce berries that are loved by the birds... what do the male trees produce I wonder? Pronounciation goes something like this Kah-hick-ah-TEE-ah. It is a beautiful sounding word but the locals refer to them as Kikes (like bikes) and said with a heavy NZ accent it is truly awful!

Thirdly, my name. It is Kerry - Kerole (pronounced similar to Carol) is a long time nickname. So by all means call me Kerry!

6 Jun '08 1:38 pm

I was inspired to look it up on google and found the latin name was 'Podocarpus Dacrydiodes',so it is related to the NZ Totara which is a podocarp too.I wonder why the name was changed,Kerole.The Aussie accent is worse,though-they would say "koiks"
I remember there was a TV quiz once and the question was 'what is NZ's tallest tree'-the answer was Kahikatea,much to my surprise as I always thought the Kauri.I have never seen a really tall one though.
The Golden totara is quite quick growing-the two in my garden have doubled in size in the 7 years we have been here.I have just gone out to take photos of one...I was going to crop the photo then decided to leave everything in.It was planted by previous owners.I trimmed it when I came to live here,and it has grown tall.The birds love it as it is quite dense foliage,and I love it because of the colour and attractiveness of the growth.
Your project is really exciting,Kerole,you can see the inspiring'after' photos in Jack's threads.His grouping of Autumn colours are brilliant.
Dixie.

6 Jun '08 2:50 pm

Good lord Dixie, your golden totara puts mine to shame! Mine is only 7 feet tall and hasn't grown an inch in years... maybe I should feed it? What are the shrubs in the 1st pic - the pinky one and the yellowy one behind it? They make a nice pairing. Those lemons are begging to be put in a tall glass of gin!

I would like to see the jetty with a roof of some sort - maybe an open pergola type thingy with a creeper or vine all over it. Possibly an ornamental grape? I am growing the hedging up to make it a semi-private room with a view over the water and back up to the house.

6 Jun '08 2:54 pm

Oops - the wrong pic was uploaded! This one will make much more sense!!

6 Jun '08 3:53 pm

Kerole, I love your spiky pictures. And your pond and the way you're thinking with the new trees, and everything. It's a real pleasure to meet a gardener with huge ideas and lots of spikes.

There are a few old Kahikateas left in pockets of native bush on Banks peninsula. It's wonderful to see that they escaped the fervour of the Christchurch city builders (all those wooden bungalow type houses with no insulation, aargh!). And the early land-clearing farmers, etc.

9 Jun '08 9:14 pm

The tractor seat ligularias are flowering by the pond. Their flowers are yellow daisies - scruffy things really, especially when compared to the daisy bush by the lawn gate. This daisy is a bit too bright for me... eventually it will go from here, but in the mean time it stays because I love its shape, the form and colour of its foliage, and its sheer cussed tenacity - what else is flowering its heart out at the start of winter? It certainly puts the ligularias to shame!

10 Jun '08 1:23 am

I especially like the first of the photos in the most recent patch. I like the contours of your 'lake' and the natural way you are planting around it. (Sorry, but if what I have is a "pond" then yours has got to be a lake and Jack lives beside the sea!) I really must start stopping by more often! I'm so glad you solved the upload challenges. I need more time to enlarge each photo but for now I'm just off to school -for just one more week of teachinig- and then it's off to England. My first time and I've got an itinerary full of gardens to see. One highlight will be the three nights we stay with Muddywellies (Mike) at the Winsford Walled Garden in Devon. I'll post pics when I get back.

10 Jun '08 4:33 pm

This shot is from the kitchen window (using the zoom) - taken only an hour or so ago with the last of the days rays lighting up our cattle. The bendy fence line follows the path of the stream as it travels from the pond to our far boundary at the bottom of the farm where the yellow poplar trees are. We are thinking of transplanting the cherries from the driveway (see other thread) along the banks of the stream. In spring, the view from the kitchen window would be of a long pink snake!

Kerole's Pond Project

More pics...

Towpaths and kahikateas

When tow paths are not really tow paths...

kahikateas

Still More...

Wrong pic!

Yellow Daisies

Lovely views, Kerole.

Beyond the pond...