It may seem like a stupid thing to have an argument over, but when a marriage isn’t working out you’ll find you’re able to pretty much disagree about anything, and garden ponds certainly come under the category of ‘anything’.

The problem was that our house had a pond in the garden, one which was protected by a fence, albeit a small fence, but a fence nonetheless. As my wife at the time decided the pond was dangerous, she wanted to place netting over it to stop the children falling in. However, the netting she placed over the pond, against my advice and knowledge at the time, was some loose netting she’d picked up in Asda. It wasn’t suitable to keep a cat out of the pond or support the weight of a small bird, let alone protect a child from falling in.

Still she insisted that it was safer, until I pointed out how it gives way under the slightest weight, and once someone has fallen through it, all the netting does is to trap them in the water so that they can’t get out.

Now I’m not saying that having some form of mesh on your garden pond isn’t a good idea, but when you do decide to use it, make sure that it’s fit for the purpose. A visual example to your now ex-wife of what would happen should a child fall through the netting isn’t the best way to get your point across.

Clive Bellmore