Substrate

[Craig58]

Cool, so your going for an all natural pond then?

What's in your native ponds? Shouldn't you be using what's in that if your goal is a natural pond of local flora?

I'm pretty sure your local ponds have no liners in them so shouldn't you have the natural substance on top of the liner if you want to encourage your native plants?

The sand should work ok for you but a little too fine to hold a lot of plants.

Without your help the pond will be green within three weeks of warm water. It doesn't matter that you only use sand. Your bog might prevent that. If you are using a pump to circulate water through it.

I'm not trying to be smart here but just trying to let you know what almost all the experienced ponders here know. A still body of water outside, regardless of how sterile you make it too start will turn green in a few weeks without any help from anyone.

I currently have a pond just like that because it's still underconstruction. I filled it about 4 weeks ago with about 7000 gallons of chlorinated tap water. A liner pond, no plants, no soil, no fish. no filter. I'm just circulating the water through a pump and back to the pond. It is now, with outside temps in the 50-60's and nightime temps in the 40's, just starting to turn green. It's inevitable. You can't stop it unless you decide to do something.

And the chances of plants just showing up anytime early in the season, by wind, bird or bug, in enough time to prevent green water is almost nil.

Adding manure to your bog will just hasten the process as manure will be high in ammonia and nitrites.

Craig

 

[John Sankus]

Oh I appreciate the advice Craig - please don't think I don't.
Yes, the idea is a completely natural pond. The only difference being that the drainage here is so good that water doesn't lie here for long - sandstone on top of limestone - so a liner was necessary.
The water has been pumped straight out of the river so whatever is in the river water is now in the pond. I took steps to ensure there was no sediment but is has been raining the last few days and there will be something in the water that will eventually settle.
There is no pump.
The bog garden area is a little lower then the pond, so if there is overflow the pond will flood the bog area and not the other way around. The bog garden I will plant - that will not establish by itself, but the pond as a new environment will be attractive to species that prefer bare sediments and that do not compete well with others.
If things are not going well by late spring I'll have another look at it.
Much of it may freeze as the majority of it is less than 6 inches deep, although there is an area around a foot and a half with shelving at the north end.
I'll let you know how it turns out, for good or ill

 

[Waterbug]

A Wildlife Pond is a difficult concept for many people to accept. A Wildlife Pond can't really have a bug problem because the more bugs the better the pond. This pond may never be able to support even a single sunfish, way too large a fish, far too high in the food chain. A few minnows someday, sure.

John, it would be great if you could post some pictures along the way.

 

[Craig58]

It would be cool to see some pics when you get a chance.

You'll learn a lot from your experiment. Hopefully we'll learn something too!

Craig

 

[John Sankus]

I'll try to post a few pics - I have to say the hole looked a lot better before I put that ugly black liner in it!
It looks like filling the pond will be only a small part of the job, since I have to edge it (perhaps some stone at the deeper north side - no edging at the south edge as things may want to crawl out) and trim the liner, pierce it a bit in the bog part, fill that with soil and stuff, plant it, replant all the hundreds of bulbs I dug up when I was shovelling out the hole, and generally try to hide the edges of the liner without sticking big turves on it that might fall into the water...

 

[sissy]

Why not use trays of kitty litter like addy does .A few rocks on top and soaking it before you put it in the pond should work .

 

[Craig58]

Why not use trays of kitty litter like addy does .A few rocks on top and soaking it before you put it in the pond should work .

I think we already had that discussion with him!! :razz:

Craig

 

[John Sankus]

I think we already had that discussion with him!! :razz:

Craig

Ha ha - it's okay - I won't bite her!
The honest answer would be that clay is not common here, therefore any local plants I put in it would be unaccustomed to it and may not even grow in it. The usual substrate around here would be sand or limestone. The sandy rocks making up the local area (and my garden wall) are full of bivalves and ammonites and it is they that will probably form the edge of the pond. A wildlife pond that is not intent on supporting fish is usually very shallow and mine certainly is that!

 

[Craig58]

I have always wondered about the possibiity of adding some bivalves to my pond. We have small freashwater clams in our local streams. I imagine some mussels too. I've always wondered if these could be added to a back yard pond and what affect, positive or negative, they would have. Snails showed up in our pond somehow with little impact. I once thought it would be neat if you could add to the return lines a filter box full of trays of mussels. Would it be a natural way of improving water quality? A plus might be having an occssional snack from the pond!!!

The invasive zebra mussels in the US have made some waters so clear, you can see the bottom 8-10 feet down. Which unfortunately for some native aquatic species is not good. But could be great for a Koi pond!

Craig

 

[John Sankus]

Well, I will have to have a good trawl around in the stream behind the house and see what is there...