It's taken me a number of years to realize that ponds don't take care of themselves. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
The first few years after my parents bought the property, we actually used to swim in the pond. Now, a couple of decades later, the algae bloom as well as the number of water fowls fouling the water has deterred us from even sticking our hands in there if we can help it. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Also, the trout/bass/catfish population has deteriorated to just bass and maybe a few catfish.
Pop never talked to me about what all he did to keep things perky, and now that he is gone and the pond is in my hands, I need to do some real learnin' on the subject.
Over on that tractor forum (which shall remain anonymous [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ), I heard various suggestions for controlling plant growth. The one that appealed to me the most was the use of grass carp, although I'm not sure they're legal in this state (California).
Some years the water level drops down to almost nil during the hot months (see attached picture), and I've heard that one thing you can do is to go in with a bulldozer and just scrape off a layer of soil to give things a fresh start.
I recently heard that it might be better to just scatter chicken poop all over the pond bottom when it's pretty dried out. Not sure how that helps, but I'm not much of a poop expert. [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]
Just wondering how other folks keep their ponds fresh and clean.
Harv -- Our pond is a LOT more healthy when the water is aerated. We use a 1.5" line from a nearby stream set high so it splashes into the deep end. Our neighbors use a small windmill pump to do the same thing. Those years I've neglected to connect the line to the creek our pond is one huge algae bloom. This year, despite the heat, I can see the bottom eight feet down.
Seriously, I do not have a pond, but I have been interested in them for a while, and study and ask questions of those who have them. One thing I have observed, in print and practice, is the pond edges stay clean when they are sharp and deep as opposed to shallow and sloping. I don't know how deep, but I know others have had their ponds dug around the edges to help control the weeds. Seems like a great excuse to rent a 'hoe......uh, backhoe - we ain't in that place where we all understand what hoe's are anymore, are we? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Aeration sounds interesting. I'll look into that. Do you know any formulas or rules of thumb about how much is required for what volume of water?
Knucklehead -
Crisp edges around my pond could be quite a challenge. In other words, I'm not sure I want to work that hard. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] I'm pretty sure this pond always had pretty "natural" edges, even back when it was clean. I recall it was easy to wade in almost anywhere except along the dam.
<font color="blue">Seems like a great excuse to rent a 'hoe</font color>
If I had money, I'd love any excuse to use a backhoe, but I gotta tell ya, the edge of the pond is the scariest place I can think of to use a tractor, whether there's water in the pond or not. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]
Glad to see you made it over here to the new site.
The pond:
I had a green water problem with my fishtank, and you would not believe how many articles reference ponds. Many of the solutions work for ponds and fishtanks.
If there's someone in your area who maintains one of those old cable draglines they can clean out your pond without having to drain it. We have a guy in our area who keeps one of those old beasts running just for that purpose. He stays pretty busy cleaning out the ponds for the dairies.
Joe -
Thanks for the link. I haven't read it all yet, but I get the feeling they're mostly dealing with smaller ponds. I guess the same principles apply, though. Just have to do a little calculating. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Bill -
You referring to this hoe? Yeah, I remember. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
Dave -
<font color="blue">they can clean out your pond without having to drain it</font color>
Yeah, I recall some discussions about that, but I'm wondering if there's a way to take advantage of the fact that my pond practically dries up (naturally) every few years. Seems like a good opportunity to jump in and do something. If only I knew what. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Yep, that's the 'hoe.
I did attach a picture, but it's not where we are accustomed to looking for attachments (yet). [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Actually I like the layout even better than TBN, and who woulda thought it could be improved on? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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Eagle Ridge
