Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations New pond in north texas with questions

After waiting all summer contractor showed up on sunday with equiment and started on my pond renovation. Had an existing .5 acre that had .25 acre mud pit next to it divided by a dam. They drained pit and cleaned it out and enlarged area. Took all the trees off dam and raised dam in a couple of places and added dirt to backside of dam to give it a better slope. They broke the dam yesterday between two ponds and started cleaning up areas. I need to get some seed on the ground asap. Property is in north texas. Should I use rye or wheat? Or somehting else?

Rye should still give you decent coverage this year. I would definitely plant a perennial grass at the same time, something locally successful/recommended, to avoid having to reseed next year. Personally, I am not too crazy about the perennial rye that often comes mixed with the annual, as it never looks good in out years.

I agree about the rye. Don't mess with the perennial. The wheat has to be covered so that's an extra step. However, even the rye needs for the ground to be prepared (loosened) or at least scratched. If it has just been finished, you should be OK but epect to lose a lot of seed due to runoff into the pond.

One other thing strikes me about your project. Since trees were removed and the dam was raised, did the contractor take the topsoil off the dam before he added dirt to go up? If not, that's a classic opportunity for a leak. It is best to remove the topsoil, make sure there are no roots or any other organic matter, disturb the original clay of the dam, and then add new clay, working and processing it into the old clay and compacting it along the way. At the end, after he pushes the old silt and "bad" soils onto the backside slope, he should have put the topsoil back onto the top of the dam. Then, put rye grass seed on all disturbed dirt.

The top of the dam was/is a road. It was/is covered in crushed rock. The contractor removed the rock before working on building up dam. It was only built up in two spots. He did respread topsoil and I went out today and covered in with 100 lbs of rye. Mr Lusk, can you tell me where to buy alum in grayson or surrounding area. I have called nurserys and chemical comp. with no luck. thanks