I’ve been rather lazy about posting, but slightly less lazy about working on the pond.

The top bank of the waterfall is starting to take shape. The concrete blocks and plywood are there to support the edge so I can pound the crap out of the top level to compact it.

The ridge needs to be wide enough to provide support for the rocks.

Not too deep; this is the “birdbath” part, and birds don’t have diving gear.

I know oak leaf morning glory is a weed, but I’ll continue to grow it in pots because weed or not, it’s a very pretty plant. I love the pale blue blooms!

I found this at the edge of the woods, and Flower Checker botanists IDed it as Heuchera richardsonii, AKA Prairie Alumroot. I’m thinking of relocating it to the soil I plan to have around the back side of the waterfall; this stuff likes dry to moderate soil, and shade to part sun, which describes that area well. I want something growing there because it’ll look weird if it’s just a “dirt igloo”, and I think covering the vertical with rock would look silly. I don’t want weeds to grow there, and I don’t want to have to mow it. I was considering Allegheny spurge (and still might get some), but this is pretty, it works as a ground cover if it’s massed, and it’s my favourite price…free.

I think I took this on Sunday; it was hot, and I didn’t really feel much like working, but the waterfall won’t build itself. I decided to make a sort of slip, since there’s a lot of clay in the soil, and I spread it around the outside, then let it dry a bit before mashing it some more with a piece of scrap plywood and a sledgehammer.

The lobelia (one of them, at least) is getting close. I wish they’d all bloom, but the others are just at the point where the rosette is “lifting”, so they may not make it to bloom territory until it’s too late in the season. Dammit…I want to see how the MLBs feel about this stuff!

No, wait…this must be Sunday…or Monday. That’s the problem with catching up; I keep forgetting when I took photos, and I’m too lazy to look it up. Anyway, I’m going to get this waterfall finished, and get this pond done. In theory, at least. If it doesn’t actually kill me.