Hi! Well, apparently I jumped the gun a bit, and posted in the "Questions and Answers" page before doing the polite thing, and introducing myself here.

For those of you who came across this post first, I'll go on ahead and let you know what I've got!

I bought a piece of property that has a pond on it. I bought the property for the house, garden, land and location. I don't know anything as of yet about pond maintenance.

The pond has been neglected - it's got a nice layer of algae and vegetation, and the bottom is muck and reeds.

I do have a champion number of frogs, a couple turtles, some sticklebacks (I believe), and blackbirds.

The pond has a good collection of trees around the edge.

My vision is less along the fishing side (at least at first - contain your gasps at the heresy) than it is for creating a pond my kids can swim in. I swam in dugouts and ponds when I was a kid, but didn't think twice at the time about what went in to keeping them viable.

I've got big enough trees for a good rope to swing out on, room for a little dock, and so on.

However, the only side that is good and accessible is the muckiest side. The mud will let you sink to mid-calf at each step, and is covered in old and rotting reeds. It's not real pleasant!

I am hoping to learn enough to get myself going on transforming it into a swimming hole.

Any advice, tips, or helpful hints are welcome.

Thanks!

Welcome aboard BeeJay. There are a few members here that have ponds and don't fish in them and many of us pond owners swim in our pond but also fish the pond.

Sounds like you need to get some equipment in there and dig out the muck out to improve access to your pond.

I was afraid of that. I do have access to a goodly supply of stone, but am worried about the pH (It's mostly limestone) and also whether it's a good idea to just seed the muck with rock...

If I clean out the muck to firmer ground - is there any other treatment to help the bottom stay firmer?

Thanks!

If you dig it out, you could add a dock and avoid swimmers entering the water where they stir up the bottom. We prefer this approach at our place - No beaches to maintain and no need to maintain a mowed edge which has added benefits for wildlife.

The muck is most likely some sort of slit that has built up in the pond over the years. Once you get to the firmer ground, it should stay put fairly well.