small pond question????

[LD1]

I was mucking out the creek back in the woods and got a hair brained idea I thought I'd run past you guys.

There is an area in the woods void of trees, and always lays wet/mucky. Maybe a 30x30 or 30x40 area. I am thinking about just digging it out 5 or 6 foot deep and making it a small pond.

My hopes are it will catch any small fish that get washed down stream and possibly attract more deer to the area, as the entire creek dries up (normally by now) through spring.

But I have some concerns. How does a small pond like this fair with no aeration, and over the winter?? Would I be wasting my time?

The area cannot really be used for anything else. It won't sustain trees, and is difficult to maintain. I figure roughly 1000 sq ft @ 5ft average depth is in the neighborhood of 200 yds. I can dig about 100/hr and with getting rid of piles I don't see it taking more than a half day to 1 day to try.

So...thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

 

[LD1]

Here's the area

 

[dondc]

I will be interested in your progress as I am planning a similar project.

 

[Larro Darro]

It can be done. But it might not be legal. You should check online about digging in or near a wetland. But if you do it, post pictures. We won't tell anyone.

 

[LD1]

Its not wetlands. Its just an area in the woods that never seems to dry out:laughing:

A few years ago, I ditched it, and added some dirt from the nearby hillside. It helped dry it out, but now I am thinking I would like a nice watering hole for deer.

A few years ago, I was mowing ALOT more back in the woods, and thinning things out. Now, I have let more of it go to nature and more "animal" friendly. Mostly because I got tired of mowing

 

[Biggreenavalanche]

I'd go to 8'...you should not have any problems...looks like a nice area for a shady little pond...

Edit: try a forum called Pond Boss Magazine: Welcome great forum and very knowledgable folks !

 

[murphy1244]

Without any water movement it will turn into green slime on the top.

 

[mjw357]

Without circulation, it will just be a skeeter farm. Not good for fish so much, but it will attract other wildlife.

 

[JeffTerry]

your water ditch (creek) you have to think about how much water flows thru this ditch. dig your pond deep enough, make sure you lay rock big rock in your ditch prior to it dumping into your pond. kind of like a French drain but not quite that way. You have to preuevent sludge filing in your pond promptly from this ditch. second you should make sure you either pipe your dam or the low area of the pond for an overflow. third, I see a lot of trees, this will cause algea growth quickly, take some trees out so it gets plenty of light. Fish, you want to wait about a year then find you some grass carp to eat the algea growth, about three should do. if they are at least 10 lb grass carp, blue cat, hybrid blue gill

 

[JeffTerry]

if your worried about skeeters, by an aerator to move the water

 

[Baby Grand]

I have a "pool" that I dug with my rear blade in what was a perpetual wet spot in a field. It's about 8'x16' and 18" deep in an area that is underlain with varved clay (nearly solid & water tight) overlain by 6" of sandy loam. It is fed entirely by surface runoff from the surrounding area.

I dug it to encourage dragonflies to breed so they'd eat some of the accursed mosquitos that make late Spring just a little less pleasant. May not reduce the population very much, but it's somehow very satisfying to see those killing machines on station all around our place. Some of the dogfights over the pool are epic.

So the pool has only intermittent inflow, during which time it has outflow. The rest of the time (about 85%) it's stagnant. It is home to 12 spot, whitetail, blue darter and bluet dragonflies and some of their nymphs (the ones that like lots of tannin in their water), oarsman beetles and up until this week, many leopard and wood frogs. I have never, ever seen even one mosquito wriggler in the pool. There are always deer prints at the edges.

Occasionally, I have to use a pole lopper to take out most of the cattails and a rake to remove most of the algae and floating weeds - maybe spend 2 hours a year doing it and always leave some floating weeds for dragonfly egg habitat and a few cattails for the nymphs to climb up on when they hatch out.

No chemicals to buy & very low maintenance for big satisfaction.
Your results may vary. As a very wise man often says "... there is only one way to find out ..."

 

[LD1]

No aeration. Not going to spend the money on a windmill one, and this is 500ft back in the woods away from power.

Only water turn-over is going to be when it rains, and creek flows.

I dont plan on nothing fancy at all. It is just basically going to be a extra wide and extra deep part of this creek.

If it mosses over, or grows algae quickly, its not the end of the world. it will still attract wild life. Its not a show pond.

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I may try to do this within the next week or so just to see. If I dont like it, I can always fill it back in.

 

[LastSTRAW]

Did a similar thing at my place. I had a spot next to the road that was always wet and thought it would make a good watering hole. I waited until the driest part of the year and then started to dig with my FEL. It would have been better with a BH but I don't own one. The hole I dug was about 6ft deep at the center and about 20 x 20. It took a couple of hours to dig (maybe longer as I was having fun).

This spring it filled with water and the cows use it to drink and three ducks moved in. If I can find a BH I plan to make it bigger and deeper next year so that it stays clear and might support fish. I would say it is worth a try.

 

[MacLawn]

I like the idea! It'd bring in water moccasins where I live! But, I'd take care of them rascals.

 

[dave1949]

The DNR usually has objections to making a wet spot wetter, go figure. :laughing:

I think it may get overgrown with cattails or other water plants if it dries out each summer. If you do it, I would look at it from the perspective that you are creating a type of habitat that is suited to a wider, different variety of critters and plants than what is there now. Some things will be happy there, and if you can accept whatever colonizes the pond and be happy with it, that is the the key. Goodness knows too much wetland has been drained over the years, so restoring some is a good thing IMO.

 

[PhysAssist]

The DNR usually has objections to making a wet spot wetter, go figure. :laughing:

I think it may get overgrown with cattails or other water plants if it dries out each summer. If you do it, I would look at it from the perspective that you are creating a type of habitat that is suited to a wider, different variety of critters and plants than what is there now. Some things will be happy there, and if you can accept whatever colonizes the pond and be happy with it, that is the the key. Goodness knows too much wetland has been drained over the years, so restoring some is a good thing IMO.

Agree, but it may not dry up just because the creek does, if the "always" wet nature of the ground there is hiding a seep or spring. Then too, any rainfall will be magnified by the creek's input to the pond.

I do not agree that trees promote algae. It is in open areas where the sun can shine that algae grows, while cover/shading from trees is what can help decrease it.

Good luck and keep us updated how it turns out.

Happy digging!
Thomas

 

[Ken45101]

I agree that the sunshine warming the water is more a cause of green growth than trees, although falling leaves do contribute nutrients which encourage green growth.

If you don't mind whatever the results turn out to be, I say go for it! I've thought about doing something similar in our creek which does run 95% of the time, even if a small trickle. There are a few small holes in it that keep water all the time.

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[murphy1244]

The frogs will love it!

 

[LD1]

Agree, but it may not dry up just because the creek does,

Thats my thought. Dig it big enough to hold a volume of water that wont dry out.

The "creek" is fed by the overflow of my pond, and a neighbors pond. My pond is about 700' upstream, the neighbors (which tees in) is about 1500' upstream. When it stops raining, the ponds stop overflowing, and it dries up quickly. With a small reservoir of water, the little pond should not dry up.

The frogs will love it!

The frogs have loved both other ponds I have built. My little 10x15-ish goldfish pond as ~30 frogs +, and my 1/4-1/3 acre has thousands

 

[Fossil Farm]

Great idea. Go ahead and dig it out. If you can get 3 or 4 feet of water depth in the spring/fall, it should work out well. Eventually you will attract a bunch of wildlife in addition to deer. Raccoons, mink, muskrats, etc. will love it. We have an old dugout spring that was used for hogs in the '50s and it works out well for wildlife. I have cleaned out the cattails a couple times, and yes it does turn green from duckweed and algae, but the frogs love it and it attracts some mallards in the spring as well as many others. Hope it works out for you.