Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Seeding the shoreline?

Lake is down and am looking to grow something on the shoreline with seeds. Much or the shoreline is high and dry and I won't be able to water it at all. I could seed after a rainfall though if that would help. Some type of grass? Plant? bush? Suggestions please. BTW, North Texas West of Ft Worth.

Common bermuda is best for a lot of reasons.

Cormac,
If you are looking for a perennial I would suggest one or more of the native grasses such as switchgrass, Indiangrass, or Big Bluestem. They have big sead heads which can hang on into winter.

Here's a link for native Texas grasses:
http://www.gardeninglaunchpad.com/txnativegrass.html

Here's another:
http://www.outsidepride.com/nativegrasses.asp

This is a good one:
http://www.gssseed.com/

I'd spread & rake in seeds for moist soils (like rushes, milkweed, ironweed, iris, joe pye weed, sedges, et cetera) within 10 feet of the shoreline, and native prarie grasses above that. Then I'd put a straw erosion control blanket over all of it and use a portable trash pump to spray water over the whole thing. The erosion control blanket will hold the seeds & soil in place, prevent birds from eating all the seeds, and hold the moisture in, which greatly aids germination and development. FYI, you're going to have a hard time growing anything without being able to water it. I wouldn't go through the trouble and expense of seeding if you are not able to water it when needed.

I would recommend Prairie Nursery for seeds. Check them out at: www.prairienursery.com

This is a 10,000 plus acre lake I am talking about in the Ft Worth vicinity. Does that change the answers at all.

Shoreline restoration projects are conducted on all sizes of water bodies. Whether or not this is feasible depends on available time & resources. Try a small plot and see how it goes. Then you can determine how big of a project you can handle.

I have spent many hours choosing what to plant next to my pond when it is finished (I have orderd the first stocking so it will be soon) ....I too will not be able to water the seed after I broadcast it, not to mention the site is almost all clay from the borrow while building the pond. I have decided on buffalo grass. once it is established it only requires 12" annual rain fall, grows to 6", does not need to be watered, very little fertilizer needed and it is palatable for grazing. Sorry I have not found much on the web about it, I am a blueberry farmer and we have been looking at it for between the rows. I started with my CO-OP agent.

If you have time, I can keep in touch and give you updates over the summer.

I'm just giddy that I have something to offer after months of sucking up everyone's gray matter. Prep, Prep, Prep is the most important thing when planting a new field. KILL EVERYTHING with roundup first then start working up the soil. Go get em'

STOP RIGHT THERE, I did not mention that round up should not be used without propper drift and run-off protection next to ANY body of water!

Dean O'; I have never planted Buffalo Grass but a neighbor did. He had to water the sprigs for quite a while before they 'took'. We are in a very arid area. Maybe you're not. Check on the water needs to get B Grass established before you absolutely depend on it in a commercial setting.

You can find Buffalo Grass in the links in my previous post.

Dean O'--I have never grown buffalo grass from plugs but have grown it from seed many times. Its natural habitat is dry clay soil. Lots and lots of companies sell seed. I used a three part process.

1) The seed is like a bur 1/8-1/4" in diameter and very light weight. The best way to plant it is with a drill where you can get 1/4-1/2" of soil on top of it. Surface seeding and then racking doesn't work nearly as well.

2) Soft fluffy soil dries out much quicker than does hard packed soil. If you're going to water it every week, you can get by with just tamping the seed in. If you're in North Texas and you are going to depend on one or two rains, you want to pack the seed in. Packing means driving over it with a car, truck, tractor or cultipacker.

3) Keep down competition from weeds by mowing the area low until the buffalograss is established.

The first two procedures should only take a day or two. Mowing depends on how fast your weeds grow.

Does any one know how Buffalo Grass does up north here were it gets ver cold in winter? I too have some areas of thick clay cover to seed.

I can't ell you if it would have any effect on the fish population, but i seeded crown vetch on the disrupted soil areas (from construction). Don't know the geographic distibution of it, but here it is used extensively as a bank stabilizer on highways.

It is very expensive seed in wight, but coverage are is very large per unit. I seed in combo with alfalfa seed and it established itself quickly. If you are cheap, it tends to creep uphill, so you can seed low and let it spread.

Essentially no maintenence and lick 18" or so ground cover. My two "fancy" mehods of seeding both involve broadcasting the seed with a cyclone and either draggng a harrow over it or I used my cat and drove up and down with the idea to use the tracks to plant the seed and form lots of smal troughs from the cleats to help hold the seed from runoff. Both worked well.

I need something that does not mind "wet feet" and a soil with lots of clay and will also solidify the base with a good root system. It has not stopped raining or snowing here for going on 2 seasons and counting since we started my pond.
Don't know if crown vetch would fit that need.

It would love clay soil and has a fantastic root system. As far as "wet feet"??? That, I don't have a clue. Good luck!