The story of Hopenkroak Pond

[Hopenkroak]

Here is how our pond came to be.....

We bought our property about 9 years ago. Much of it was overgrown with sticker bushes, poison ivy and brush. The land is divided in half by a wooded area featuring a strip of glacial till (boulders/rocks left behind as a glacier retreated.)

The house needed a LOT of work, but we were a bit cash shy having just bought the property... so we set to work clearing/cleaning the land. There was a wide path that led through the woods that went to the other side of our property. Most of the large rocks had been removed, but it was overgrown with brush/stickers and it was always wet and muddy. We cleared the area and set some boards down so we could at least drive our mower over to the other side. When hurricane Sandy came through in 2012, the massive amounts of rain washed all the soil out of the cleared area, leaving a large, 3-4 foot deep muddy pond.... and we had no way to get a mower out to our field. All that brush had been holding the soil in place.

We were planning on a pond... but it was going to be right off patio behind the house. But...... we could see how pretty this site might be with its border of large boulders and irregular shape. So we cleaned it up a bit and built up a raised pathway to our field.

While I shaped and graded

My wife set about searching the woods for plants she liked and moving them to new homes around the pond..

We made one area especially for a low table and some chairs

In a few weeks time, we had a cute little pond

The pond matured and stabilized in a few months. We have spent many evenings sitting by it and chatting

Makena, our Bengal loves to sit with us by the pond

Makena also likes to poke around by the water. He is trained not to harm frogs, but he still often waves a paw at them to make them jump

Winter...

Lots of wildlife moved in

Especially frogs. They get so loud some nights its hard to carry on a conversation.... and this is where the name Hopenkroak Pond came from...

We had a little snapping turtle move in...

But Painted turtles would not stay, they would show up for a few days, then leave. We figured the pond was likely too small for them.

We were starting to wish for a larger pond when two things happened...

 

[Hopenkroak]

First, the large amounts of rain in 2018 kept the pond topped up, but our path to the field began to crumble and sink. I realized that we were just a few more heavy rains away from having the pond get a lot bigger on its own.

Second, a friend offered the use of an excavator. We have a backhoe, but an excavator has a much further reach and can dig many times faster. It also allows dirt to be placed nearly anywhere. A project that might have taken weeks with our backhoe became an afternoon project with an excavator.

I simply removed all the soft muddy dirt and quit when I encountered harder packed clay. I moved the path to the field over the glacial boulders, where it would be stable.

Hopenkroak is several times larger now.


Drone pic - still muddy

Hopenkroak has always done a good job of keeping itself balanced and clean. It still gets muddy after a rain but that will get better after everything around it grows back. Given the area that feeds this pond I don't expect it will ever be crystal clear. We added a small amount of dye to keep the algae at bay until the system matures

We tried being a bit smarter about plants this time around, using more natural ground covers to lessen the amount of weeding. Also using more large flat rocks in some areas to limit the amount of growth. We do not have the time to spend weeding etc. And we would very much prefer it be as natural as possible.

At some point I am going to run power out to the pond so I can have a wifi repeater, this will let me occasionally sit by the pond and work. Once there is power we may install a small water fall for a little better aeration and to keep things moving.

REALLY hoping we can get some painted turtles to take up residence. We put in several logs to bask on and there should be plenty of vegetation to eat. We had a little red eared turtle that a friend put in, but to our dismay he disappeared after a few weeks. We were tossing him Reptomin sticks, bits of chicken and some fruits - and he was eating them. He was also making use of the basking logs... not sure what happened to him. He was only about 2-3 inches, I suspect they are quite vulnerable at that size.

We have a large school of Fathead minnows in the pond. We would like to get some larger fish, but we don't want anything that would prey on the Fatheads. The fish would also have to be winter hardy. I expect anything brightly colored would be quickly dispatched by the Great Blue Herons or Ospreys we have flying around the area. Would like to hear some suggestions if anyone has some experience or ideas...

Still have some planting to do here and there. And several areas of grass that needs replanting due to tractor traffic.

June Bug, one of our other cats, watches minnows

June Bug, when she was a kitten, plays with her best friend Makena

 

[addy1]

What a neat story and what a great natural pond.

 

[bagsmom]

WOW! I love it!

 

[cas]

I love your pond! Thank you for sharing your story and pictures.

 

[poconojoe]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

 

[j.w]

Love your story and your pond is to die for! Thank you for sharing.

 

[Tula]

You're a natural born story teller. Your pond is lovely and so private. Would rosey red minnows add a bit of color and yet be natural and more subdued in color then goldfish?

 

[SherrysPond]

I have Rosey red minnows......they are a very pretty color and very friendly and active. Your pond is very peaceful looking! I really like it.......

 

[Hopenkroak]

You're a natural born story teller. Your pond is lovely and so private. Would rosey red minnows add a bit of color and yet be natural and more subdued in color then goldfish?

The Rosy Red minnow is the xanthic (yellow/gold) strain of the Fatheads we have now. We have hundreds of Fatheads and there are always a few Rosy Reds in the mix - perhaps a dozen at any given time. Fatheads grow to about 3 inches in size, but we have noticed that the Rosy Reds never get larger than 1 1/2 inches. I am unable to find anything in the literature that suggests Rosy Reds don't get as big as normal Fatheads, so I suspect they fall to predation due to their conspicuous coloring. They sure do stand out in the school.

We like the Fatheads for the reasons mentioned: they are active and eager to get food... really fun to watch. They only live a year or two, but they are prolific breeders, there is always a swarm of tiny ones zipping around. They also tolerate abysmal water conditions.

The other fish we have been trying is the Golden Shiner. Similar in needs and habits to the Fatheads, but they live longer and get 5 - 8 inches long. The Golden Shiners are commonly sold as bait fish.... but there are many varieties of Shiners, sold indiscriminately as the "Golden" variety when in fact they are a different variety. The problem is that they all kinda look similar, but their size and needs vary tremendously. We bought 3 dozen supposedly Golden Shiners that turned out to be another type that requires fast moving cold water.... they all died (in a few hours) by the time we figured it out. They were kept in water that was chilled, that should have been a clue for us.

The bait shops have no idea what they have and identification is not possible when there are 500 of them scooting around in a dark colored vat. Even under ideal conditions they are not easy to type - and I am not ichthyologist.

Just bought a dozen "Golden Shiners" today from a small bait shop - the water they were in was not chilled and I am guessing they are actually Common shiners. Common Shiners get to 6 or 8 inches, but I don't know if they will breed in a pond as they are more of a river fish. They look healthy and they came over for food a few hours after being put in the pond... so I suppose time will tell.

There has to be something that gets to 6 or 12 inches, is winter hardy, and won't eat the Fatheads like they were popcorn.

We have these gold dragonflies this year - took me an hour to get a pic of the pretty red/gold color of the wings. They are fast as heck too!

 

[BarbO]

Your pond and it's story is just great! I really enjoyed seeing the pictures and know you must get lots of enjoyment out of that beautiful pond. Beautiful cats too! Hope to see more of your pond later on.

 

[Hopenkroak]

We had all winter to think about changes......

We did didn't do much with the far side of the pond last year, just let it weed over. I went in a few days ago and cleaned/leveled it and changed the edge of the pond a little bit.

I am going to add a layer of fresh dirt to build it up a little. And going to drag in a few large rocks in to break it up and make it match the surrounding area. The whole space is around 30 x 20 or so. Behind me from where I took this picture is open field and woods. This area gets a few hours of sun every day and is a bit shaded mid day.

We decided we want this area to be all flowers. I don't want to have to maintain it. Looking for ideas on what can we put it that will take over and come back every year and crowd out weeds. In other areas we have had good luck with cone flowers reseeding and coming back, as well as black eyed susans. In the past we have tried "wildflower" mixes in different areas on our property... but they were sparse and soon the area filled with weeds. Thoughts and ideas?

 

[j.w]

Many types of Asters are nice for late summer and fall.

 

[Hopenkroak]

Many types of Asters are nice for late summer and fall. View attachment 126816

Looks like there are a few varieties that are native to our area too, so they are bound to grow well and reseed themselves. Going to add those to the list of seeds we need!

 

[addy1]

Bees love asters in the fall, good nectar source. Yellow clover is great also, blooms for a long time