A quick update on this. We decided to go with 6-9” stone along the bottom of the stream and up the sides, which we put on top of filter cloth, and then we filled in the gaps with pea gravel. We put the stones and gravel up to 6 to 12” above water level, and then butter the topsoil into this. The thinking was that the 6-9” stone would be big enough to stay in place as kids and animals walk on them and up the banks, and then the pea gravel would be nice to walk on barefoot. I will let you all know how well it works.
Liquidsquid I like your idea. Unfortunately the 600’ stream length makes it impractical. We will see how quickly it builds up. I read in a Freshwater Wetlands book that the more organic muck in a wetland the better, as this is where the microbes live that do the vast majority of the work purifying the water and removing nutrients. That said I’ve read walleye eggs don’t like this, so perhaps I’ll aim to keep a few spots clean behind a few boulders were going to place, which is apparently where walleye like to rest while swimming upstream, and will hopefully release their eggs.
