…we’re not there yet, but I have an apple tree back there that sorely needs pruning. And I have to do it before it wakes up.

That’s about a 30 minute job.

The koi pond is leaking, which is more than a 30 minute job, but I think I know where our problem is.

We don’t have a ‘firm’ edge: we have underlying HPDM liner that comes up over the berm and is pinned down by loose basalt rock of some weight. The plantings are just inboard of that edge.

There are a few exceptions. One notable one is what we call our ‘pebble beach,’ an area at the west end where we have simply thrown down river rock. I note the water stopped sinking with part of the pebble beach underwater, but still lower than the rest of the edge. I think, while the pebbles don’t individually weigh much, they also tend to travel down the slope independently, which our rocks don’t.

It’s my theory the mass of river pebbles has slid a bit and depressed the ground underneath—thus watering the surrounding shrubs, but also lowering the water level unless the topoff hose is running, which it isn’t, in winter.

So the leak’s been going on but was only turned up when the topoff hose was shut down for cold weather. And this spot is really suspect as our problem.

This means that before it gets warm enough to start the pond up again (the fish are slowly showing signs of waking) I’m going to have to get out there with a hoe and rake and haul enough of that pebble up off the liner that I can find the edge of the liner, and build up the earth that’s compacted and sunk there, thus raising the edge of the liner to equal the rest of the waterline.

Muddy, cold, and involving quite a few pounds of rock, a hoe, a wheelbarrow, a spade, gloves and rubber boots, a lot of hot coffee, and some bags of sand, which will resist compaction. This is not going to be a fun job.