Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations STRAW-HAY-AERATOR ON NEW POND

Gang I've just had a 1 acre pond dug out. The area use to stay kind of damp with crawfish holes like little fountains all over, there is creek about 40 feet away that runs about half way around the pond. We got down about 6-8 feet and hit some tough slate so we built up the sides so it would be about 6-12 feet deep "if it will fill completely" anyway I already have about 4' of water at one end "nothing much at the other shallow end" I plan on using some lime however, I thought I might try to bring in another larger excavator in and try digging it a little deeper here and there. In the meantime though should I throw some hey "almost afraid to use hey" or straw in and around the pond to help keep it from errosion problems? I don't want to seed grass around the pond until late fall next year so I can see what the water level is going to do, does this make sense? The weather here in Ky is getting cold now, with rain and snow probably all week, I'm curious how the pond will react, will it fill quickly or just mellow, LOL
Also I wanted to out a fountain in, would this work about as well as an aerator? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :-)

Here's my opinion having recently dug a pond and seeded the land around it. Others may offer more info, but this is my experience.

Waiting until fall of next year seems like a long time to wait. You've got a perfect opportunity in the spring to lay down your seed before the spring rains come. Most permanent grasses need to be seeded in the spring time for best results as far as I know. Plus, you'll eleminate a full year of erosion time.

If the waterline wasn't marked with flags, you can get a rough idea of where it is by laying down next to the drain pipe with the bottom of the pipe at eye level. Hold out a long ruler, or any straight lightweight object in front of your face (at eye level). Scan the ground around the pond and see where the imaginery water line is using the straight surface you're holding. If you have a buddy helping you, have him place some flags around the pond on your direction. I did this when I was starting a pier and it worked surprisingly well. You'll save a little bit of seed by knowing where the waterline is.

From my experience straw just blows away if it dries up. I am a big believer in heavily seeding and staking down burlap. I get 300 by 6 foot rolls for about $100.00 from Dayton Burlap. If yo stake it down right with the u stakes you won't get any erosion underneath and grass comes right through it. Eventially when your grass takes hold the burlap will disappear.

http://www.daybag.com/

BTW if you wait too long you may end up with a mud hole and lots of erosion. Depending on the soil you may have clay particles that don't want to settle.

GENE13,

I've had good luck at stoping erosion with old hay. I unroll the large round bales over the exposed areas and the following spring no or little erosion and grass seeds from the hay begin taking over. It requires a large tractor to perform this operation, but it has worked for me in a high rainfall climate (or at least it used to be )

I had trouble getting anything to grow in a few areas. The birds had a picnic every time I seeded. I purchased a small airator to break the top of the soil loose, seeded and then drug the area with fencing. With just a little water everything took off growing. This airator came from Home Depot and really did the job. The neighbors had a good laugh and said no one did that in this area, I did not explain to them why I was doing this. My berm looks real good and the flat area leaves a little to be desired.