Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Seed Bottom of new Pond?

Hello,
Another intriguing idea I heard at the Conference was to seed the bottom and sides of a new pond to prevent erosion and jump-start the eco-system. What are the downsides of this and what grass seed would I plant that would even grow in compacted clay?
No way, am I doing Common Bermuda. I hate that stuff.

bigmac I use rye grass on the lake sides (below the water line) during drawdowns. Comes up quick grows fast and holds lots of bugs.

We use rye as well,esp. on the steep edges.Sow as soon as we drain.Comes up quick ,and helps stabalize the soil.Usually mow it just before we refill.Just don't let everything grow 3' tall and thick,then refill the pond.It'll die/decompose,and use up a lot of O2.

oats work really well too. They are cheaper than grass seed.

I would do the sides but not the bottom. When one of my ponds dried up, grasses took over. When it rained again, the grasses rotted and turned the water a nasty looking black. It stayed that way for a year. I tossed in some bluegill and they stayed alive but didn't thrive or spawn for a couple of years.

Thanks guys. It's always good to hear from ya'll to keep me from seeing the forest and smashing my head, running through all the trees. Only the sides it is and I'll mow it if needed, before the pond fills.
There's talk down here about Rye Grass naturalizing, so I think I'll go with the Oats, as also recommmended for food plots at the Conference.

Bigmac, don't waste money on certified seed oats. Plain old whole feed oats are all you need and the cost is about half. They will give good germination if the conditions are adequate.

One more tip, the advantage to using ryegrass is that it doesn’t need to be covered to germinate while oats need to be covered. Oats will eventually germinate uncovered if adequate moisture is present but the birds, hogs and other vermin will consume them pretty quick.

I threw some rye grass on the bottom of my pond when it was low. Hogs found it and tore it all up!!! The moisture there had the grass growing really nice, maybe too nice. They came in one night and just destroyed everything.

Eddie

That's an inexpensive way to add structure, right? Seriously, I've been thinking about one of those All Season Feeders Hog Traps I saw in a brochure at the conference. Big problems with hogs rooting up the area around the 17 acre lake my Mom lives on. With my luck, I'll probably catch a beaver. At least, I can eat the hogs.

bigmac: barbecued beaver takes just like beef. ;-)

Rangersedge, Hmm? Had not thought about that. I figured it would be the same as everything else and taste like chicken.