An update from the pond team about the sump, a deeper area of the pond intended as a refuge of last resort for wildlife. The text on this image is reproduced below.
The sump is kidney-shaped, with vegetation occupying one-third of the area. The plan is to have open water in the other two-thirds, but it will take a few years to clear out the mud. This year Rob and Anne removed the mud from the edge, leaving quite a lot of mud in the middle. Rob measured the width of the sump as 1.7m in the "open water@ part, 1.9m in the vegetated part.
Four plants in flower in the pond enclosure
Above left [a tall plant with dark red stems, long thin leaves, clusters of delicate pink flowers]: Hemp agrimony growing in front of the willow at the top of the bank
Above middle [a dense collection of mint plants in flower]: Water mint in the sump.
Above right [a plant with rounded leaves]: Mystery plant on the edge of the sump. It has reddish, woody stems and blue flowers. Maybe Gill can identify it.
Left [close-up picture of various plants, looking healthy and vibrant despite the drought]: There is a stem of the mystery plant in the top left corner. The arched stem below it is gypsywort. The flowers of gypsywort are tiny but very pretty. The leaves are in pairs, each of which has a ring of white flowers at its base.
Notes on the planned annual work to clean out the sump can be found here: cleaning-out-sump.pdf
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