For a long time, we had been pursuing the idea of creating aquatic spaces in the garden.Da tempo inseguivamo l‘idea di creare degli spazi aquatici nel giardino.
Almost two years ago, we decided to build a pond near the vegetable garden, alongside the last row of the vineyard. However, the project took a long time to come to fruition. While we were still considering how to proceed, and in order to get started with something, we waterproofed the basin of the front fountain, which had been unused for more than fifteen years.
At the end of the summer, it was filled with water and the first plants were introduced. Then, in April, we discovered our first important guest, almost invisible among the pebbles placed to support the plants and having arrived completely unnoticed: a little frog. A second frog, found in the vegetable garden, was given a home there a few days later. The tits, too, have been making good use of the restored basin, enjoying it as a place to bathe.
But the story does not end there. With the help of a group of volunteers from the Verna Permaculture Group, between the end of April and the beginning of May, we were finally able to complete the pond project.
Over the course of two working days, the volunteers first discussed how best to finalize the design and then rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Together, they shaped the banks, creating the terraces needed for the aquatic plants, laid the EPDM liner, reused stones from a collapsed wall to secure it in place, built a channel to collect rainwater, and even constructed a small wooden bridge.
A heartfelt thank you to Annamaria, Paola, Silvia, Martina, and the rest of the team. Through their efforts, they have helped create a new habitat which, although small, will certainly contribute to the biodiversity of this place.
