Pond re-do Part 2

[EddieWalker]

Congratulations on a full pond!!!!! That's really exciting. Now you need to find your favorite spot and set up a picnic table. Mine is where I can take pictures of the sunset reflecting on the water. I try to go down there every night.

Eddie

 

[Barton]

The next pic was taken from near the west end of the dam.



The property has hardwood bottoms and sandy uplands which is where the longleaf pines are planted. Underneath the layer of sand is a layer of clay. When the ground is saturated water will flow down hill to the pond just above the layer of clay. The next pic at the west side of the pond, shows a wet area where I believe this is happening.



The next couple of pics show the flow of water from the road into the pond. The water coming through the culvert is from Greg's pond and water was also coming from the ditch alongside the road. The last rain was last Sunday night so there is still a lot of water draining from the surrounding sandy uplands. I believe this area will be a constant problem area. It will stay wet except during a drought and won't be able to be mowed. This is the area that I suggested that a sand trap and culvert be installed but the pond guy didn't think it was a good idea. They can be installed later. This area is at the north side of the pond.




One more picture taken from the north side looking back torwrds the dam.

 

[Barton]

Thanks Eddie. I agree with you. Also I can see, in the future, a couple of docks with one of them being partially covered, maybe even a floating platform out in the middle of the pond and maybe even a gazebo but not as nice as yours. It's fun spending other peoples money.

Ok, a few more pictues just for the fun of it. The next one is a pic of a colony of fire ants that got caught by the rapidly rising water. Then a pic of longleaf pine "bud" or the early stage of a bloom.



A coule of pics of the area below the dam.



The next step is to get some forage fish stocked and then later in the year some large mouth bass and perhaps some channel cats. We're on the GA Forestry list to help with a prescribed burn. They will cut the fire breaks and assist in lighting the fires. I'll see if we can get the debri piles burned while the prescibed burn is going .

 

[Knight9]

Looks great!!! Must be very rewarding to see it full.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Be sure to inform Michele and SIL that you will be scheduling the first annual TBN bass tournament soon. Hehehe

 

[Barton]

The Georgia Forestry called last Wed. and said that the weather and wind would be right for a prescribed burn on Thur. By the time I arrived the fire breaks had been just about completed.



I had to light the first fire which was at the closest debris pile. Then the 2 rangers, Brad and Tyler, used their torches to light the back burning of the longleaf pines and the other piles. They did a great job.







The Georgia Forestry Commission provides a great service, for a fee, for our land owners, especially the small land owners who don't have the equipment. It's a shame their budget keeps getting cut.

 

[Barton]

It was to wet in the hardwood bottoms to get a good burn. Maybe next time. The neighbor said he measured 20.5 inches of rain in Feb. Today he tried restacking the piles but it was to wet for his tractor. I was surprised, again, about the amount of water that was still draining into the pond. The last rain was over a week ago.

The fire went in to the edges of the bottoms in a couple of places.

 

[jinman]

Bart, I'm very jealous of your rainfall. Your totals for February are nearly 2/3 of our average yearly rainfall. Your forest floor sure looks nice after the burn. I'd bet that within two weeks you'll see new healthy growth on the forest floor. That's the natural way to manage it rather than heavy equipment that damages bark layers and compresses soil in the root zone. Your pond is looking really nice. I hadn't noticed your ant 'raft' photo before, but here are two from my pond when we got heavy rains. Mine are fireants and I'm guessing yours are fireants too. They sure know how to survive and spread.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Could you explain the reason for burning the forest floor? I understand the practice of burning off grass/weeds in open areas (fence lines, ditches etc) but in the forest I don't get it.

 

[jinman]

Bart may know other benefits, but this blurb from Wikipedia explains controlled burns pretty well.