Water, and Pond Life

 

Everywhere is dry here at the moment, we have not had rain for a couple of weeks and with this intense heat things are drying out really quickly.  My biggest concern has been keeping us and our animals and birds as cool and watered as possible, tender plants get a drink when they need it, but most of my veggies I leave to their own devices.

 

I am a hard-hearted gardener, things get a good drink when they are planted and then they get another thorough soaking the week after, after that it's up to them to send roots down long and deep to find their own water.  If you give them a watering can full here and there you simply encourage the roots to come upwards towards the moisture and then they stand much more chance of drying out in any drought conditions.

 



 

 

I have saucers of water on the ground near my planters and the areas that I do water for little creatures to get a drink.

 

In amongst all the foliage and weeds there is a bird bath that gets filled each day when I water my herbs.

 

On the patio there are bowls of water left out in the shade for the cats and dogs, so they can quench their thirst whenever they feel the need, and  I'm sure these are visited during the night by many other little creatures too.  Over by Chicken World we have our hosepipe set up where we fill our buckets for carrying over to fill the chicken drinkers and I always make sure I leave a couple of buckets ready filled for us, knowing full well that deer and other larger animals from the woods will be able to get a drink if they so wish during these hot and stifling nights.

  

 

But the biggest source of water for all sorts of wildlife is in our pond.

 



 

I bit the bullet the other day and left the hosepipe running to add some much needed water to it, the level had dropped pretty low and it was looking still and dark.  Although our water is metered I decided that better a bigger water bill for us than lots of tiny little creatures meeting their maker for the sake of a couple of hundred gallons of fresh pure water.

 

There is a fountain in the middle which is slightly blocked but which churns the water up nicely adding much needed oxygen and movement to the water, it is a cooling sound on a hot summers day.

 

We've been rewarded for my extravagance with the hosepipe by the pond springing back to life in a magical way. 

 

Pond Skaters skim the surface, big fat tadpoles have appeared yet again and the fish are now swimming back and forth.  Dashes of bright blue signal the return of the mating Dragonflies and the air is thick with insects of all types

 

There is indeed magic in the pond ....

 

... and the sun rays catch the water in beautiful ways ....

... making me want to stand and stare, and drink in the beauty of a precious resource for nature.



 

I'm so glad I filled it. 

 

 If you have a pond and you can, top up it's level and watch it come to life.  If you haven't, try and make sure you fill up any bird baths you have in your garden, and if you have none of these put out a shallow saucer and a big bowl of water for any wildlife you have visiting your garden or yard, there will be lots of them whether you know it or not and they all need water.

 

The very least we can do is share what we are lucky enough to have.

 

Have a good weekend and enjoy the sun.

 

Sue xx