Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions can I leave the clay banks uncovered

well, I bought 150 lbs. of gulf rye seed for 80 dollars. Borrowed a 10 foot by 5 foot chain link fence drag and I have a hand spreader. Will try to get it done this Saturday. Plan to spread seed and then go back over it with the drag. Hope that's right. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanks giving! Are you discing to break up the ground some first?

I was thinking of dragging the fence around several times to kind of break up the top a little. I have no way to disc all this up.

The biggest problem is the clay soil is not easy to work with and get the clods broke up. Grasses will sprout and grow in clay soil if it gets enough water. Darn filamentous algae and weeds don't have problems growing on a clay bottom pond.

I am not going to say that won't work, but I would try a small area first. At the end of the day, 95% of the seed should not be visible. A few seeds showing here and there is normal for this method of planting.

You might consider Clovers. I planted 4 different types of clover around my new pond. Some Scarlet, for the red flowers in the spring, along with one called Red Ace, and Duranna, and one called Louisiana S1. The clover seed only requires contact with the soil. It has a deep root system and will reduce erosion. It is slow growing this time of year because it is growing the root and not so much the plant. And the deer will eat the clovers and so it provides food to the wildlife. Honey bees might be in my future.

Since clover is considered a legume, it also fixes nitrogen in the soil, which is a plus too.