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A Tale of Three Ponds

By Ros and Ben Walcott

Jun, 2025

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Words by Ros Walcott and Photos by Ben Walcott

We have three ponds on our property, one large and two smaller ones in a cascade down the hill. The ponds act as water catchments and form the basis of our irrigation (read ‘irritation’) system. We also have an 80m deep bore which adds water to the large pond. The water circulates from pond to pond, over a waterfall and along a creek lined with Purple Loosestrife, ( Lythrum salicaria).  We originally had four ponds, but the pond on the other side of the property was always problematic, either too full or too empty and hard to manage. We filled in the fourth pond by punching holes through the liner, adding a lot of soil and made it into a garden in 2006, complete with a central Melia to provide shade.

We planted four Schoenoplectus, or Lake Club Rush, two mucronatus and two validus, in the largest of our new ponds in January 2004. By January 2025, 21 years later, you could almost walk across the pond on the resulting reeds. In fact, our Italian Greyhounds could walk across the pond on the reeds – see photo above. While the pond appeared brilliant green and looked amazing, we did not want a pond that was barely functional. The ducks had scarcely any space to land and the native waterlilies, Nymphoides geminata, and Water Ribbons, Triglochin procera, that we planted at the same time, were getting choked to death by the vibrant reeds. Something had to be done to remove most of the reeds and allow the pond to breathe.

We had two quotes for the job of removing the reeds, one very fancy, with an added sump and water treatment machinery, the other very simple. Get four healthy young men with strong backs to come for a week and pull up all the reeds by hand and mattock. We went with the simpler solution and were amazed to find that 8 truckloads of reeds were removed from the pond. It was a gut-wrenching experience that left everyone exhausted, including the hundreds of fish (uncoloured goldfish, gudgeon and mosquito fish, Gambusia) that live in the pond. The Pacific Black Ducks, Wood Ducks, White Faced Heron and Little Black Cormorant were all inconvenienced by our actions. However, the pond was clear and looked so large with a wide expanse of water and no reeds. The reeds are now galloping in again, but they have 20 years to grow back to their former glory.

Dispiriting expanse of mud and stranded waterlilies in top pond 2025   Top pond after leak is fixed   Bottom pond free of reeds

 

We have also just completed a six-month problem-solving exercise in the top pond.  The top pond has been dropping to a low level and we have been avidly pursuing the unknown leak. As you all know, if you have ponds, water is a sneaky, unreliable liquid that loves to disappear, invade off-permit areas and trickle where it is not wanted. We had a succession of bearded men come to look at the pond and cogitate. Many theories were advanced, but the pond continued to leak to a certain low level. Eventually we got a proposal to fibreglass one side of the pond that had a crack in it from subsidence of the paved area around it. To do this all the fish in the top pond had to be caught and relocated to the other two ponds. I thought this would be almost impossible, but it was easily managed in a morning. Then the pond had to be drained and dried out before work could start on sealing the leak. The subsequent view of mud and stranded waterlilies was traumatic for me, although the peewees loved the mud and strutted over their new territory leaving dainty claw prints. After a week of drying out we filled the pond again – and it still leaked! Gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair ensued. We had even more theories advanced, but Ben now had an inkling of where the water was going. He decided that the garden sump was the culprit. We drained the pond again and dried it out. Another week of torment for the ducks who flew into a view of no water. We blocked off the sump and dried it well before filling the pond with water again. So far the water level is holding. We have all breathed a sigh of relief. I now have exciting plans to put koi in the top pond in spring.

 

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