I need to rehab around 9 acres that were clear cut a year or so ago. It was done before I inherited the land, and lemme tell ya, it is god awful ugly.

My long term goal is to build a pond if it is feasible, but at this point even I had a pond I wouldn't want to visit it without a blindfold on!

I am hoping that some of you guys that have spent a lot of hours pushing dirt can enlighten me. What are some of the different ways that land that has been clearcut can be prettied up?

What kind of costs would I be looking at? I have $5K that I can sink into it immediately, no idea if that would get the job done, or just a big enough hole to bury me in.

Welcome to Pond Boss!

Hang in there and we'll see what folks have to say.

I see you registered back in '12, but only made your first post now.

Legacy - welcome.

Clear cut land, if the stumps and non-log scrap (branches and bark) were left in place, will regenerate pretty fast. Opening the former forest floor will cause a lot of buried seeds and nuts to germinate. Because they won't have completion for the sun, they will grow fast and tall without much effort.

As for putting in a pond, you need to make sure you have a reasonable water supply, usually from run-off. You also need to make sure you've got good clay that can be packed.

$5000 can get a lot of dirt moved, but probably not enough to complete a pond.

A good friend, and Pond Boss co-owner, just finished a great book. "Just Add Water" by Mike Otto. Mike is one of the best and most knowledgeable people anywhere when it comes to building ponds, to building pretty good size lakes. Here is a link to it:
Just Add Water.

While you are at it, another excellent book is Perfect Pond .... Want One? by the Pond Boss himself, Bob Lusk.

I would suggest getting both books before starting any serious planning.

Ken

My take is that nature despises an open area. If the trees were removed, then all that sunlight will definitely encourage new growth. Unfortunately, in my experience what will grow the soonest is often a less than desirable species...in my case, what was once a shaded woods is not impenetrable due to rampant growth of multiflora rose. I feel that it will, in time, die back as the canopy overhead fills in and shades it out, but for now it's awful.

Maybe take a walk this spring, as stuff begins to green up, and see what is trying to come (grow) in? 9 acres is a big chunk to manage by hand, but I think if it were me I would try and get in there with a tractor, bushhog if possible, start piling brush, and take stock of what's what. If you intend to try and keep the brush and non-desirable plant life cut back, I would get on it early, before it gets ahead of you.

Agree with sprkplug

You might also plant or relocate desirable saplings to where you want them then mow around them to give them a nutrient head start... It ain't Nuttin but work...


Pat

+1 to that. It takes a lot less contact herbicide and effort to kill a 3 inch tall plant in the spring than it does to kill it when it's 4 feet tall later in the summer!

I'm a slow typer.

Thanks Bill, Pat, Sparkplug, and Catmandoo!

Perfect!