Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Fertilization New sod

I just cut a bunch of sod from another area of my property, which i placed around my pond. I want to put some fert down but am unsure what i can use. What ever i use will go directly in the pond since the grass is on the slope. Any recomendations?

I only want to add fert to get the grass to grow nice and tall before the water level comes back up. Trying to give grass coverage for the LCB when they spawn as well as the gambusa/fhm and BG yoy. I want the grass to be as high as possible for additional hiding places. Will not be long b4 the water lever comes back up. Could i use miracle grow? What side affects would that do to my water? Or fish for that matter?

Anybody?

I'm not sure what you mean. It seems to me that any grass that grows on the dryer soil will flood, die and rot when the water level rises.

I wouldn't think that light weight fertilizer like Miracle Grow would hurt the fish or the pond. It ought to be taken up by the grass without any run off. Or maybe I don't understand the issue.

Hi Dave, Yes, i'm pretty sure the grass will die after it fills back up with water and thats ok. My pond is 1.5 yr old with blue/grey gumbo clay bottom and the clay from the bottom was brought all the way up on the sides and packed when it was built. There is no dirt at all for 20 ft around the top of the berm. I brought the sod and placed it at the waters edge when the water level went down. It only covers about 5-6 ft up the bank from the waters edge, it does not go all the way to the top of the bank. When the water level comes back up it will cover approx. half of the grass sod i put in. It put instant grass there along with plenty of dirt for future grass to grow. As mentioned i want the grass there for hiding places for the future YOY. Even if/when the grass dies some of it will still be standing up to give YOY some hiding places until the real "pond" grass starts to grow. I know its not perfect but its better than having a barren shallow area with only clay. I have plenty of habitat and structure, just no grass for them to hide in. I think it will add food for some of the YOY, hiding places, and fill in the blank areas until the pond does actually start to grow some real grass on its own. Thats the reason why i want the grass to grow as high as possible. Since all of this grass is in the slope i am worried about putting fert on it because something is bound to not soak up in time and go in the pond. Did i clarify it better this time? Ask more questions if i missed something, thanks.

No, that makes sense. What kind of sod is it? It would need to pretty high to be of much benefit. I still doubt that lightweight fertilizer would hurt anything. The grass should absorb it and then rot. The rotting will add a little bit to the nutrient load but shouldn't be appreciable.

I don't worry about grass. I just toss some brush in shallow areas.

"I don't worry about grass. I just toss some brush in shallow areas." I wanted the grass to get moving faster than it was naturaly. I borrowed my friends sod cutter and cut sod from the back field. There are 5 or 6 types of grass in that area, including weeds. As long as it grows i dont really care at this point, just needed some coverage even if it only got 6-8 in high. I already have several bales of hay spread out in the pond but i wanted to add grass and dirt so something would grow on a regular basis. If i didnt help it along it would have taken way too long for the grass to start growing. Thanks Dave, i'll give the MG a try.

Info I give is from a Northern's experience so I'm not sure how good it will be for you.

I initially bought a cheap starter fertilizer to get a pasture mix going. It was high phosphorus and caused a huge bloom within a day of the first bloom.

Since the grass you transferred is probably pretty hardy, perhaps a light application of liquid root stimulator fertilizer is all you need. It's available a most garden centers by the gallon in various concentrations. I use it in all new plantings of trees and plants and it really helps. If you'd rather use granular, use an all in one pellet slow release starter type at a low dose. Pasture grass doesn't have the demands of lawn turf. The cheap stuff I had problems with said slow release but had all different colors of pellets and apparently the phosphorus wasn't such a slow release.