With only a little over an inch (25mm) of rain for most of June, and a near constant breeze on top of sun and heat to help dry things out quicker, we’ve had to hit the pond. Full irrigation here is a time-consuming process, involving dragging around and repositioning a network of hoses, soaker hoses, and sprinklers, and making trips every couple of hours to refill the pump set-up by the pond (see also “Pond and barrel”). The pond was dug out a couple of years ago, is ground-fed, drops level at an alarming rate (it starts the season full to the top of the photo), and replenishes slowly. If you look closely at the perimeter, the darker strip just above the water shows the level drop just for today. Still, it was used quite heavily last year and I’ve yet to see bottom! Meanwhile, I’m visualizing RAIN!
I wonder if you could reduce the evaporation rate of your pond by planting some fast growing trees around the edges to shade the water. Then again what you save from the sun may well be taken up by the trees. lol Just an idea.
stephanie: Well, pond improvement is one of the MANY things on the wouldn’t that be great to do list… Some sort of sun and wind break sounds like it would help. There’s a whole world of pond knowledge to dive into, but I haven’t gotten there yet! Thanks for the suggestion/encouragement!! :)