Our rotten decking surrounding the pond has been a slippery problem for a while; none of us have actually fallen in the pond but we knew the time had come to replace it, or one of us soon would.

We considered lots of different options but finally decided on decking again as it had served us well being in place for around 15 years.

We had to pull out the honeysuckle and rose hedging to do this, which I was rather upset about, but having removed it I now rather like the fact that I can see the pond where it had been previously hidden away.

With a new decking edging of machined posts cut to length I had a new bed to play with! I decided to go with a planting scheme that would be fairly open and would not obstruct my newly found view picking Grasses; Echinaceas; Salvias; Irises; Poppies; Verbena Bonariensis with a white Lavender edging up the pathway.

I popped plenty of bulbs in between the plants including Alliums; Tulips and Gladioli hopefully giving me a colourful display year round.

It was very tempting to pack the plants in as it is a bit gappy but I’ve tried to leave them plenty of room to grow into, saying that I’m sure I won’t be able to help but pop things in the spaces in the spring!

Leave the leaves

We have been lucky this year with the trees holding on to their leaves meaning we have benefited from the beautiful display of rich colours for longer than usual. Now they are falling you should try to remove them from your pond as they can cause blanket weed if left.

Also the path will be safer if cleared and the lawn will not like to be suffocated by them, so you can shred any on there, with the lawnmower.

As for the rest of the garden don’t be too hasty to get the leaf blower out but consider leaving them on beds and borders as a natural mulch; weed suppressant and fertiliser.

You will also be creating a mini ecosystem for many wildlife species including toads, shrews and butterflies and moths overwintering as pupae in the shelter of the leaves.