Pond and Bog Garden
The pond is the largest single feature in the garden. It was built by Teviot Water Gardens in 1996. The pond itself is at the bottom of the Ornamental Gardens, but water flow starts up at the top of the gardens. The header pool is the central feature of the Heather Garden and it then flows under the top bridge, down into a series of small pools that form the stream that runs between the two ericaceous beds, the herbaceous border and top ten toughies border, and from there, down the waterfall into the main pond. The stream is some 60ft long, but it doesn't stop there. The pond narrows and extends under the main bridge to flow into a small, very shallow pool, which is the centre of the bog garden.
The pond saw some big changes over the winter of 2004/5. The banking at the back of the pond was terraced, a small boardwalk was built and a set of steps set into the steepest part of the banking to link back up to the main lawn. The terraces were planted up with a range of herbaceous plants that now make a brilliant backdrop to the pond in the spring and summer
In the pond itself we have a range of water plants such as water lily, water hawthorn and various oxygenating plants. There are shelves built into the sides of the pond so that marginals such as iris and kingcup can be grown. The pond is a great wildlife habitat. In high summer the dragonflies are the size of small helicopters and the damsel flies are the prettiest flashes of blue and purple posing on the stems of the iris and cotton grass, whilst the water boatmen skite across the top of the pond trying to avoid the shoal of golden orf that live in the pond.
On the other side of the bridge is the Bog Garden. We grow a wide range of plant species that enjoy these conditions, from primula, iris, hosta to some real exotic looking types. We have Lysichiton americanus (skunk cabbage) and two types of gunnera; G. magellanica which is a tiny-leaved ground cover plant and, G. manicata which in optimum conditions can have leaves that are six or seven feet across with stems tall enough for a man to shelter under. Needless to say, this being Aberdeenshire and not Brazil, the only creature that shelters under Gunnera manicata is Lightning, the garden cat. At the back of the bog garden we have a stand of bamboo that is maturing nicely and seems to cope with the strong winds we sometimes get in the garden.
Water gardening has really taken off in the last few years. There are plenty of specialist centres where you can get good advice and see a wide range of plants and fish along with the equipment needed to maintain them. There are different styles of ponds - formal, informal, those that will house fish, those with water features in, ponds especially for wildlife - the list is endless. All you need to do is decide what type you want. Remember though, it doesn't need to be on a massive scale. Even if you have a small garden or balcony, a tiny pond made from a water-proofed half-barrel and used to grow dwarf waterlilies and other aquatic plants looks very good and makes an unusual change from the normal planted containers.
