Instant Pond

[bindian]

Brandi, if you can find some type of material to make those long "spaghetti" looking sand bags the DOT uses to control silt, that may be cheaper than hay bales, not easier though

Dennis,
That would work, but I think those bags are filled by a machine.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Brandi,
Hay or straw probably wouldn't work anyway with fast runoff water. I did that on a shallow swale I dug a few years ago to protect new grass seed. After 4 hours work of putting a nice layer of hay down a heavy thunderstorm 2 days later swept the hay away in a few minutes
and lodged most of it in a 2 foot culvert pipe under my lane. That created another 4 hours work cleaning out the culvert.
I guess that's where the expression, " Your just making more work for yourself" came from.

The swale did divert the water just as planned though.

I think your idea of a few small pine trees might help. Did you have to clear some trees for the new pond?
I am still a little confused after looking at a lot of your pictures as to where your new pond is located? It must be NW of your old pond and close to the white fence poles. The picture of the neighbor's house in the background in some pictures confuses me.
Could you take a picture of the new pond from the front of your barn sometime with your lens zoom set at 50 mm equivalent and post it?
That will give a more realistic depth distance.
Lot's of luck on the wash out.
Ron

Ron,
The pond is west-south-west of my first pond. My driveway starts at the end of the street and curves around the dam of my first pond. This pond is just outside of the driveway curve about 50-60 feet. The "house" you see is most lickely the horse barn and sheds on the 3 acres behind me. No house there. I took a few photos after the rains stopped earlier. I'll post them in a few minutes. I need to take a trip to the Hill Country and bring home a load of rocks.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Brandi get some straw or hay bales, leave them whole and place them in your runoff channel. Pin them in place with some metal rod or wood stakes. This will slow down the water flow and cut down your errosion.

RB,
I can do that. A few bales here and there would work in the eroded inlet areas. But be too expensive to line the all high side of the pond. Thanks.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Here's the pond after the 1.5 inch downpour.


This is the view of my first pond, my driveway, and past the driveway and trees is the new pond.


Here is a photo from the dam, looking up towards the street and mailbox. The erosion centered in the photo is directly from street runoff.


Here Booger is right in the inlet erosion from the neighbor's (with white fence about 15 feet away) land and wooded watershed.






Here Booger is right above the erosion from the street runoff. This water is from the ditch on the far side of the street from my first pond. My nearside road ditch channels via berm into the first pond.


Here is a photo (without Booger!) where the Bermuda Grass is taking hold right at the inlet from the neighbor's land. My method of planting the seed is spread it, then drag a layer of topsoil over it. Not the most effective way to plant Bermuda seed.


..........and of course Booger with his 3rd favorite past time. His 2nd favorite is chasing squirrels. The first is unmentionable here. lol

hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Ron,
Here a couple of more pond photos that will help get your bearing, I hope.
hugs, Brandi

 

[jinman]

Brandi, that new pond is sure looking good.:thumbsup: What I try to do for erosion is to rim the pond with a small berm of dirt into a small terrace that will direct runoff to a single point where I put rocks down to control erosion. Since you don't have rocks, the hay bales may be able to direct flow sideways instead of letting it dig a trench down the middle. If it is disrupted and goes sideways, it often dumps its silt in the process. You'll always have some minor erosion no matter what you do.

 

[jenkinsph]

Nice work Brandi, persistence pays off.

 

[pacerron]

View attachment 278233View attachment 278233Brandi,
Thanks for the explanation of the neighbor's horse barn. I blew up one of the pics and could see horses next to the building.
I had done a Bing fly over and could see the white fence posts were only along your northern property line so your pictures
along the fence toward the neighbor barn had to be looking west. The Bing image is 2012 but not current. It does not show a barn in that area; must be hidden by the trees, so that is why I was confused.
The checkerboard door on your red barn shows up very good. It will be interesting in a few months when you get grass growing and they take a new image.
You are doing a great job.

 

[bindian]

Thanks Guys. Gotta find some old smelly discounted hay bales this week.

Ron,
Yep, that is my neighbor's horse barn.
hugs, Brandi

 

[PAGUY]

Brandi, Are there any fish in the first pond now-a-days?

PA Guy

 

[bindian]

Brandi, Are there any fish in the first pond now-a-days?

PA Guy

PA Guy,
Yes, there are several eating size Channel and Blue Catfish in there. My biggest 5 cats, about 20 inches long each, died in July, when we were having lots of heat. So during those days, I had the water hose spraying water on the surface, in support of the aeration. Right now that pond is about a foot from full. Not bad considering it was down 8 feet last summer.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Western]

Brandi, FWIW, I have winter rye, (think I threw out gulf-coast type last year) coming up all over the place right now after the last rain, may be a bit early but its all volunteer. Some of it is 5" already, you may be able to use a bag on your ****

 

[bindian]

Brandi, FWIW, I have winter rye, (think I threw out gulf-coast type last year) coming up all over the place right now after the last rain, may be a bit early but its all volunteer. Some of it is 5" already, you may be able to use a bag on your ****

Dennis,
Winter rye is what I used to. I will try to get some tomorrow, along with some hay, after I pick up my truck. Right now my truck is in the shop getting a new hitch, as the "welded-to-the-frame" old hitch mount (was on it when I bought it) was flexing and shoddy. It was a fold over ball that had slop in it also. They have to remove the bed and grind off the old hitch mount that was welded to the frame. I could have had a fixed ball hitch mount welded to the old welded channel, but it was only rated to 20,000 pounds. I went with the remove and replace route (double the price) and will have a removable drop in-ball rated at 30,000 pounds, along with that rating for the hitch. Now I will have a huge hole in the bed to cover. I know how I wanna do that, but need a good size chunk of Dodge pickup box floor.
hugs, Brandi

 

[tungularafishcamp]

Looks great Brandi!! Don't think lefty is a fitting nickname for you it should be busy beaver

 

[bindian]

Looks great Brandi!! Don't think lefty is a fitting nickname for you it should be busy beaver

Thanks Rick! Busy Beaver................what a play on words.

 

[MotorSeven]

Wow Brandi, you have been busy.....looks great! What kind of aerator do you put in?

 

[Biggreenavalanche]

Thanks Rick! Busy Beaver................what a play on words.

Here we go ! LMAO !

 

[Western]

Here we go ! LMAO !

RIGHT!!!:laughing:..Nuff said

Sounding like a heck of a pond, where's the fish?

 

[bindian]

Wow Brandi, you have been busy.....looks great! What kind of aerator do you put in?

Rick,
Thanks. I know you have been busy building that beautiful home. I bought a round aerator from Tractor Supply, then supply it with regular air hose (for now) from my shop compressor in the barn. I picked up a $39 oil less pancake compressor from Harbor Freight I want to put close to the first pond's pier under a fake rock. I have the weighted airhose. So that is another project waiting. I have been using the pancake compressor in the house as I replace some floors.

The rains yesterday filled both ponds. There was 3 inches of water flowing into the overflow pipe. This was the first time the overflow pipe had water run through it.
Here is a photo of both ponds from my back deck.


...........and here is a telephoto shot of the water going into the pipe.

It was still raining at the time, so I stayed on the porch. It was a 2.5 inch downpour. The Bermuda Grass is up good now. I never had a chance to put in hay bales yet, to slow erosion down.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

RIGHT!!!:laughing:..Nuff said

Sounding like a heck of a pond, where's the fish?

Dennis,
The cats are all still in the first pond. I put about 30 Mosquito Fish in the new pond last week. I need to put the minnow trap in the first pond again to catch more Mosquito fish to transfer. Also need a couple of pounds of Fathead minnows. I'll wait awhile for the pond to settle more before putting in cats. Besides, this pond is mainly for ducks, where they can sleep safe on the island. Booger does not like water, so no swimming dog going after ducks.
hugs, Brandi