The dragonfly nymphs are crawling out of the pond and metamorphosing by the tens; soon it will be in the hundreds. Click on any of the photos to enlarge them.
Hay expanded the unmown areas this year, although I'd prefer to tarmac them over, add a mattress or two and perhaps a burn out car as a water feature.
I managed to put the new clutch on Trigger's Ride-On-Mower with the aid of No.2 Son and gave the grounds a quick once over, although Monty Don recommends one shouldn't touch a lawn till July 21st at the earliest in order to give wild flowers and bulbs in the grass (if you have any) time to gather strength.
Against Monty's recommendation, I always leave the clippings on the lawn due to the soil being clay - the addition of vegetation helps to make it a tad more fertile the following year.
And the pond is maturing nicely, despite an outbreak of spyra-gyra, which will disappear as more water plants are added to provide shade.
The edges are still relatively wild, as the spoil from the excavation is heavy clay and will take time to break down into something that plants can be put into and thrive, although Hay has started planting a few shrubs and ground cover plants.
I've come up with a concept to reduce the spyra-gyra - pipe insulation, bent and stapled into circles and covered in plastic. A few of these giant lily pads would cut down the light in the pond dramatically and control algae and spyra-gyra blooms.
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