Hello,
I am looking for advice on an issue I am having with my pond. I apologize for this lengthy description but I know details are sometimes what could crack the case so I am trying to think of everything I know about it. I will first off state the problem is murky dirty water. I feel it is due to the high clay content in the soil here and it has rained constantly since the pond thawed.
I just purchased my current house and moved in this February in Upstate New York. First of all I will describe what I know about it which is only what I've witnessed as the previous owners gave no information at all about it. The pond is an oval shaped natural bottom pond. Approximately 200ft circumference. I'm guessing 5ft deep in the middle. That is strictly a guess as I have not seen the bottom since we moved in. Grass all around it which I mow (sides and front) being careful not to allow grass clippings to go into the pond. I leave about a 6" thick row of grass around the pond untouched for hiding places for the frogs. The backside of the pond is the beginning of the woods that is behind my house. This side is VERY soggy and I have done nothing with this so far. There is 1 natural spring bubbling out from the ground on the back right side about 10 feet away which has carved a small channel leading into the pond. The sides of the pond are grass covered. The front of the pond is also grass covered and is a manmade bank to retain the water level. About 2feet centered at the front of the pond is a 4" PVC drainpipe sticking up above the water line that of course drains the excess water out when it fills up above the pipe level. This drain pipe runs down through the bottom of the pond through the front bank to a drainage ditch that lines the one side of my property. This ditch empties to the drainage ditch that runs along the road. There is also a drainage ditch that runs around the outside of my yard that empties into the pond on the back left side. This drainage ditch is nothing engineered with any thought. Someone dug it out years ago due to the natural springs and soggy ground that is out in the woods behind this ditch but is not lined with anything. It is just dirt and has grass, weeds and whatever else growing in it. Due to the excessive rain we have gotten this spring water is constantly coming out of the natural springs and ground which is partly caught in this drainage ditch and flows into the pond.
So far I have seen what appear to be simple goldfish anywhere from 1 to 3 inches in length, a lot of frogs and egg sacks along the shoreline, salamanders that are strictly aquatic(have only seen them swimming and floating and never on land) and another kind of small fish that seem to stay in schools of about 15-30 fish and are only an inch or 2 long. They are mostly black and/or dark brown. Not really sure what any of these fish are.
I want to landscape around the pond, add more fish as well as different kinds, build a waterfall on the backside and plenty of other ideas but I feel like the first problem needs to be fixed before I focus on anything else. I cannot see more than a few inches down into the water due to it being constantly dirty. It does appear to be a dirty brown color sometimes having an orangish shade like the clay in our soil. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this kind of situation. In my beginner opinion I am assuming this issue is due to the constant rain we have been getting since the spring thaw is bubbling up through these natural springs and generally just seeping through the soil into these drainage ditches that empty into the pond. These poor fish haven't had a decent gill full of clear water yet!! I have thought of lining these drainage ditches with gravel or flat rocks or both, planting some type of plants along the ends of these ditches right before it empties into the pond in hopes of the plants naturally filter the water but I do not want to completely line these ditches as I need the ground water to be able to enter these ditches and divert water away from my yard and house.
So I am hoping someone out there has had this issue and has found a great solution. If not then maybe others could help me brainstorm to take steps in fixing this issue so I can continue with my other plans to make this a healthier pond for all these fish and frogs to live.
Should I turn these drainage ditches into French drains or simply shovel gravel in them? Or line them with flat rocks as far up and away from the pond as possible and/or plant some type of plant in them to help filter and settle sediment out. Or is there some other idea I am not thinking of because frankly I am clueless!
Someone PLEASE HELP!!! ANY advice would be GREAT!!
I am looking for advice on an issue I am having with my pond. I apologize for this lengthy description but I know details are sometimes what could crack the case so I am trying to think of everything I know about it. I will first off state the problem is murky dirty water. I feel it is due to the high clay content in the soil here and it has rained constantly since the pond thawed.
I just purchased my current house and moved in this February in Upstate New York. First of all I will describe what I know about it which is only what I've witnessed as the previous owners gave no information at all about it. The pond is an oval shaped natural bottom pond. Approximately 200ft circumference. I'm guessing 5ft deep in the middle. That is strictly a guess as I have not seen the bottom since we moved in. Grass all around it which I mow (sides and front) being careful not to allow grass clippings to go into the pond. I leave about a 6" thick row of grass around the pond untouched for hiding places for the frogs. The backside of the pond is the beginning of the woods that is behind my house. This side is VERY soggy and I have done nothing with this so far. There is 1 natural spring bubbling out from the ground on the back right side about 10 feet away which has carved a small channel leading into the pond. The sides of the pond are grass covered. The front of the pond is also grass covered and is a manmade bank to retain the water level. About 2feet centered at the front of the pond is a 4" PVC drainpipe sticking up above the water line that of course drains the excess water out when it fills up above the pipe level. This drain pipe runs down through the bottom of the pond through the front bank to a drainage ditch that lines the one side of my property. This ditch empties to the drainage ditch that runs along the road. There is also a drainage ditch that runs around the outside of my yard that empties into the pond on the back left side. This drainage ditch is nothing engineered with any thought. Someone dug it out years ago due to the natural springs and soggy ground that is out in the woods behind this ditch but is not lined with anything. It is just dirt and has grass, weeds and whatever else growing in it. Due to the excessive rain we have gotten this spring water is constantly coming out of the natural springs and ground which is partly caught in this drainage ditch and flows into the pond.
So far I have seen what appear to be simple goldfish anywhere from 1 to 3 inches in length, a lot of frogs and egg sacks along the shoreline, salamanders that are strictly aquatic(have only seen them swimming and floating and never on land) and another kind of small fish that seem to stay in schools of about 15-30 fish and are only an inch or 2 long. They are mostly black and/or dark brown. Not really sure what any of these fish are.
I want to landscape around the pond, add more fish as well as different kinds, build a waterfall on the backside and plenty of other ideas but I feel like the first problem needs to be fixed before I focus on anything else. I cannot see more than a few inches down into the water due to it being constantly dirty. It does appear to be a dirty brown color sometimes having an orangish shade like the clay in our soil. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this kind of situation. In my beginner opinion I am assuming this issue is due to the constant rain we have been getting since the spring thaw is bubbling up through these natural springs and generally just seeping through the soil into these drainage ditches that empty into the pond. These poor fish haven't had a decent gill full of clear water yet!! I have thought of lining these drainage ditches with gravel or flat rocks or both, planting some type of plants along the ends of these ditches right before it empties into the pond in hopes of the plants naturally filter the water but I do not want to completely line these ditches as I need the ground water to be able to enter these ditches and divert water away from my yard and house.
So I am hoping someone out there has had this issue and has found a great solution. If not then maybe others could help me brainstorm to take steps in fixing this issue so I can continue with my other plans to make this a healthier pond for all these fish and frogs to live.
Should I turn these drainage ditches into French drains or simply shovel gravel in them? Or line them with flat rocks as far up and away from the pond as possible and/or plant some type of plant in them to help filter and settle sediment out. Or is there some other idea I am not thinking of because frankly I am clueless!
Someone PLEASE HELP!!! ANY advice would be GREAT!!
