Hello everyone, I bought a house in North Carolina with 3 1/2 acres that has a pond in back. Behind the pond is a densely wooded area with about 300 feet of winding intermittent stream. Deer bedding down back there. Pond is about 100 feet long and 50 feet wide and deepest 4 feet. no liner on the bottom, just really muddy. It is surrounded by a wood deck that has collapsed in a couple places due to erosion. It is densely overgrown with lotus, and has great local wildlife, deer, muskrat, frogs, bass, catfish, turtles, northern water snakes, great blue heron coming, etc. I like the wildlife but the pond just looks like one big mess of lotus. Need to figure out what this pond can be and how to get it there, need to fix the deck also. Any ideas how to get started?

Thanks,

Mikey

I would start with the "one big mess of lotus".

https://aquaplant.tamu.edu/management-options/american-lotus/

Before taking out what you have, consider if can be developed as a wetland. Have the lotus bloomed? It is possible that they just need fertilizer and may be a very nice variety. Just added "The President" variety of lotus to my new pond. If it is within your budget, consider stone as a replacement for the deck and pathways, or concrete made to look like stone. My bodies of water are primarily wildlife habitat, but the fish do fine too, and swimming is also fun. It really is all about what you enjoy. If possible, a deeper area might be added adjacent to what is already there.

Thank you very much, I will review these options.

Here are pictures of the bloomed lotus, also some wetlands to the left, quite beautiful flowers