There is at least one metal pole, the frog fountain is sitting atop it. The obsolete goverment forms have been moudering away for years. KoKo the lord high executioner of TiTipu sings "My brain it teems with endless schemes both good and new for TiTiPu" I'm the same way with my pond, and I'm continually thinking"That rock doesn't look right here, but if I move it to that side, then I can move this rock over a bit and put that rock over there on top of it which will leave room for........."
The frog fountain is backed by dwarf fountain grass, which looks especially nice in winter when the setting sun is behind it. If the pond were a compass, the frog would be at west, and the filter container would be at east. The filter is inside what I call, for obvious reasons "The Crypt"
The water exits the crypt and cascades down some rocks into the pond. The pump for the filter is in the pond to the left of the crypt, and has rocks piled on top it to provide a way for toads and toadlets to get out of the pond. The pump for the frog is in the pond to the right of the crypt and also has rocks piled on top of it for the toads and toadlets. Both pumps are inside plastic aquatic plant pots. Since I kept on finding tadpoles and dragonfly and damsel fly larva inside the filter box every time I cleaned the filter, I finally sewed window screen material around both pump pots to keep out the toadlets and larva. The frog fountain base rests on a metal pole I drove into the ground, and them piled rubble around the pole, and piled dirt on top of that. I left room for topsoil at the top where I planted the fountain grass. The back of the mound the frog is sitting on has a facade consisting of parts of an old Atlantic City Hotel, and a block from the Atlantic City YWCA. The block reads "ssociation". I couldn't find the block with the "A" on it. The front of the crypt has a block with a chalice on it, from the front of the YWCA. There was a block from the YWCA
with an open book, probably the bible, on it, but it was too heavy for me to get. Running across the pond from North to South is a juniper branch, which at one end rests on a stump I put in the pond, and at the south end on a pile of rocks for the toads and toadlets. Intially the top of the stump was covered with moss which I really like, then the moss was over run by liverwort, and I liked that too, but that was killed off when the pond was topped off with saltwater marsh water. I didn't like that. This fall when it gets sufficiently cool and damp I'll replant the top with moss. In front of the frog fountain is another pile of rocks for the toads and toadlets.
This is a picture from summer of last year when the pond was being a true wildlife pond.
There is a pair of Rambur's Forktails Damselflies mating on a pickeral weed stem. The male will often hold the female in that awkward position for hours, in order to prevent another male from mating with her. A wise precaution since a bit to the right of them is another male just waiting for his chance.
