Howdy... I'm in the process of building a .2 ac lined pond in Phx. On one edge of the pond I have 3 50+ year old Eucalyptus trees that will drop leaves etc into the pond... Does anyone know if these trees will have any negative impact??

Thanks!

p.s. - looking forward to the conference!

hi aaron,
perhaps you will get widely varying opinions, but here are mine:

myself, my father, and his father before him all hated eucalyptus trees for a number of reasons:

a) they shed like crazy and will contribute a lot of organic debris in pond
b) there is some oil or substance in eucalyptus that renders the soil beneath the trees unusable for normal plants, i dont know if this would translate to hurting pond water, but for me personally i wouldnt want them anywhere near the pond....bottom line...they poison the soil beneath the drip line.
c) they are a fire hazard around my parts
d) some species have invasive root systems
e) most species just aint that pretty to look at IMO.

the tasmanian snow gum aint bad, but that is a rare one and hard to find.

now that i was politically correct, do you want me to tell you how i really feel about eucalyptus?

Hi Dave, LOL.. thanks for your PC comments! I hear you on A-E! These trees sure do seem to bring out stong opinions!

Here's a picture of the big things. I live in a desert, so they're not 'that bad' looking. I'm just concerned about the water under them.. and my yard isn't big enough that i'd want to move it from where the trees are.. (I've read enough on here to know that I should make the thing as big as I can! and that's still only 7-8,000 sf.) I know that they shed a bit, and I'd obviously have to clean these alot. It's in my backyard, so that's not that big of a deal. The cost to have these things removed is insane...

http://picasaweb.google.com/matos.brooks...897690422952626

-Aaron

I think you answered your own question. I never had a pond and a u cal ah petus in the same place so I can't provide much help there but as a former Southern Cal resident I can say from childhood to adult they were neat to be around, I love the smell, they were great to climb in and they provided a lot of shade. The biggest downside for me was that in high winds they would break apart, I mean big pieces of tree would come crashing down, house destroying chunks.

Aaron, having lived in the land of air condition or else, I think anything other than a cottonwood is a neat tree there. Using a liner and the possibility of invasive roots like D.I.E.D mentions worries me.

As far as possible leaf problems, run a test. Get a bluegill or 2 and put them in a container using city water or some sort of filtered water that will approximately duplicate your future fish environment. Add a couple of the the leaves and see what happens. Or, add leaves to a 5 gallon bucket, Let it sit for a week and toss in some bluegills.

Good test idea, DD.

yes, DD1, very good test idea. my thought is you'll probably be o.k. on the water quality, who knows, maybe the stuff they emit will prevent or inhibit aquatic weed growth but not hurt the fish. you might find something new here...........contributing forum members would like the royalties in small unmarked bills please

since they are established mature trees and provide your only shade (based on that first pic) i can see why'd you want to keep them. i'm not sure what species those are, but having mature root systems might not be as big a problem for a liner now as planting young ones and putting a liner over young root systems that will be expanding rapidly.... if you follow me.

euc's are very tough and have their place. one of the reasons they were originally imported back in the 1800's. they provide good wind breaks and shade in Godforsaken areas all over the west. just dont put buildings near them as rad alluded to.

if you ultimately decide to take em down, they also make great firewood....looks like you could get alot of cords out of those

thanks guys.. I really appreciate the feedback. I'm going to do a test on bluegills this week - that a great idea DD1!

I'll be happy to report all info back on what we see with plant and fish growth over time. I've been reading everything on this site for a while now and I feel like I've taken more than I've given. Of course it's hard to give too much talking about my dirt! But I'm almost ready to break ground on the digging!! (woo hoo!)

Besides becoming a subscriber, buying all of Bob's book, and registering for the conference, I really do hope I can contibute some knowledge over time - you guys are great and I've learned a lot!

u cal uh petus. I like that.

Rad, I think I recall that you have some Texas roots. Good to see that the BS never totally erodes.