Practical Ecology

Nature Switched On

 

 

 

 


in the Pyrenees  the first 10 years

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index
gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-

map
>> 2007 Jun  2
<< 2007 May 19

                         a   S T A M M E R  project              

2007 May 26 & 27, Saturday and Sunday


 The pond is getting filled: more rain and more stones. Rain comes from heaven but it's a hell of a job to get the stones. I collect them from a nearby river and transport them with car and wheelbarrow. This is of course a lot cheaper than ordering them with a lorry but has the additional advantages of no damage (scratching and chipping) to the stones and no soil compaction. At the end of this weekend most of the stones were on its place. I tried not to make  the stonebed too uniform and formal, offering different habitats inside the pond (with small or big stones, with or without soil etc.). When I come to think of it this kind of stonebed combines a series of positive aspects:

  • avoids the run-off of soil on the steeper slopes

  • reduces evaporation, maintaining the soil relatively humid

  • protects soil form trampling and dirtying the water (wild pigs!)

  • acts as a temperature buffer, avoiding extreme temperature fluctuations of the water

  • maintains a nice aspect even if the water level is low


WWW   NSO
 

 

The pond seen from the southeast at the end of a weekend's labour.
Sunday 19:23

The pond seen from the northwest.
Sunday 19:20
Close-up of the pond. The (rain) water is still muddy.
Sunday 19:23
 

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Grasses play a fundamental part in any wild garden and what they lack in conspicuousness they gain in subtlety and dynamics. There are no other plants that react so fascinatingly to changing sunlight and wind. Quite difficult to capture in a photograph of course but here I show some attempts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Stipa iberica on the higher central terrace.
Sunday 10:37
 
 
 

 

Avenula bromoides near the wood in the western part.
Sunday 10:38

Aegilops geniculata on the higher central terrace.
Sunday 10:36
  Phleum phleoides  near the wood in the western part.
The sculpture is a dead olive treetrunk turned upside down.
Sunday 10:25
 

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Some more impressions of the vegetation.


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Galium fruticescens and Onobrychis viciifolia (Sainfoin)central higher terrace
Sunday 10:40
Ononis natrix. Western higher terrace, looking southeast.
Saturday 12:45
  Lower eastern terrace, looking northwest.
Rosa canina, Euphorbia cyparissias, Sideritis hirsuta.
Saturday 12:22

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index
gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-

map
>> 2007 Jun  2
<< 2007 May 19

 

 

 


 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Latest revision on:  14/08/2018