SOUTH ACRES FARM

THE RILL

6 March 2012

The Rill was one of the final additions to our garden at South Acres Farm.  I wanted to "end off"  the garden, close to a wooden fence, the other side of which is a paddock.  I wanted to use an old stone trough which was next to this fence, used for drinking water for the cattle.  I considered the possibility of allowing water to spill from this trough into a rill beneath which would then wind it's way to a lower northern corner of the garden, where I would build a pond.  The water would then be pumped up back to the trough to spill over again.  Below are some photos of the beginnings of the rill and the plantings/pathways only four years ago and how it looks now.

The cattle still drink out of the trough as well as eat the water-lillies !

The water trickling down into the Rill

The lush planting next to and above the Rill

The Construction begins !

The old stone trough

The rill and new pathway

                                                                                                                                                          

More planting !

We had no real plan for the planting of the rill and everything we bought from the nursery on a whim seemed to end there.  We have flowering cherries,  pink and white Dogwoods,  large Spruce's lining the wooden fence on the left,  and then a profusion of shrubs, perennials and bulbs.  No particular colour scheme and everything we  moved from other parts of the garden ended up in the rill.  The result is an incredibly lush, full planting of every colour imaginable,  creating a micro-climate.  The bird life - particularly the tiny Blue Wrens is wonderful.

Lush planting spilling over the "bridge" which crosses the Rill

The Rill pond at the bottom of the rill 

The Rill pond

The Rill today with stone lining

The old stone trough as it looks today

pathways through the flowing cherry on left and Dogwood on  right

glimpsing the paddock beyond

Red Maples on either side of the path

A long cool path between the planting

Bunny and Penny love running up and down the Rill

The pond at the bottom of the Rill