Do I restore a natural pond?

[JamesHW]

From the size it sounds like a vernal pond. I have a series of them on my property that in the past have varied from full year round to dry part of the year to no water for the past few years. Reports are they have water again this Spring. I used to put dunks in them every year, but after reading up on their importance for frogs (noticed a lot of tree frogs in years past) I stopped treating them. Instructed the forestry guys harvesting lumber to avoid running equipment through them or just uphill from them and they thought it a good idea.

 

[PhysAssist]

From the size it sounds like a vernal pond. I have a series of them on my property that in the past have varied from full year round to dry part of the year to no water for the past few years. Reports are they have water again this Spring. I used to put dunks in them every year, but after reading up on their importance for frogs (noticed a lot of tree frogs in years past) I stopped treating them. Instructed the forestry guys harvesting lumber to avoid running equipment through them or just uphill from them and they thought it a good idea.

Hi James,
Why would the dunks harm frogs?

We use the in all the drainage and vernal ponds we have, in fact we spread them around into anything that water can sit in for more than a couple of hours- planters, buckets, on tarps, etc., and our bull, leopard, tree, and spring peeper frogs all seem to be doing fine, not to mention the adult toads, and thousands of baby toads we see every early summer...

Our koi pond is apparently the toad version of Hedonism in the area.

AFAIK, the Bt in dunks only bothers mosquito larvae, and nothing else- do you know differently?

Thomas

 

[JamesHW]

Good morning PhysAssist,

I was under the impression that the dunks could adversely affect fairy shrimp or other invertebrates that frogs feed on, but reading up on Bacillus thuringiensis this morning it appears my concern was misplaced and it is a very targeted treatment for mosquitos. The pools have been dry a couple of years (dry meaning no standing water, but plenty of moisture under the leaf litter), so it has been a moot point. Since they reportedly are wet again, I'll go ahead and get some more dunks from the town and start treating them again. The pools are about 300 feet from the nearest house (850 from mine), so treating them is probably the neighborly thing to do.

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't think I would be able to sleep at night until I had it all dug out!!!

 

[dragoneggs]

Ha ha Eddie... I think I know how you feel but my dang work schedule has me by the 'grapes'. I did get a little time in this weekend still pulling out stumps and clearing debris but I'm working with little traction. To change things up vs. posting a pic... I figured I would throw in a little video of one minute in my mess. Where I am driving hopefully will be 2 to 3 feet lower when I am finished. There are certain areas that I might sink well above my floorboard so I am working cautiously. Today I was trying to divert water and I am no expert here!

Again... nothing approaching your beautiful 'lake' and gazebo! I'm talking small pond. Fish would be cool.

BX in the mud! - YouTube

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm thinking I shouldn't have started this thread... another 3 year project the way I go... and it's not on my wife's top 10 list either! :laughing:

 

[Xfaxman]

Wow, I expected forward motion to stop and the wheel to spin at any second!

 

[bcp]

I'm surprised how well mine does in mud. Maybe a combination of wide tires and light weight.

Bruce

 

[PhysAssist]

Hi DE,

I saw this in my inbox and thought of you and your pond dilemma:

Inventory: PVC Liner - Repurposed Materials

In case you want to line it without using bentonite or something similar.

I hope it helps.

Thomas

 

[dragoneggs]

Thanks for the reminder Thomas... I recall checking these guys out a year or so ago. I think they are out of Denver. I definitely like the repurposed material concept! I recall the delivered price was going to be a pretty fair chunk of money. That's one reason I got me leaning to a more 'natural' solution such as bentonite. I used heavy pond liner at my previous residence to build a 'pondless' waterfall feature. It sure worked out great for that but this project should be a fair amount bigger if I get my wish.