Originally Posted By: RockvilleMDAngler
Originally Posted By: catmandoo

Your location is in one of the best places anywhere for a pond. The soil is perfect -- perc sites for sanitary drainfields are difficult to find. You've got lots of excellent watershed, and springs, that provide ideal pond water. And, even during dry periods, adequate moisture gets ripped out of the clouds as they pass over the Blueridge.


Ken I know all ponds are different and there is no easy answer to this question without more data that I do not have at this point, but would it be fair to say that most soil and spring water in this area is fertile and does not require fertilization and/or aeration? I keep reading that many people put a few tons of lime down on the bottom of their pond before filling it and our builder never suggested this and none of the ponds nearby did this before filling up as far as I know. I just want to know if this is something I should be worried about. Your post essentially said that this area is ideal for a pond, I just want to know if ideal means good ph/alkalinity etc.


I somehow missed answering this.

We are pretty fortunate in this area for multiple reasons. You certainly could put lime down, but it would have to depend on the pH of the water coming in. I would not base it on the pH of the pond soil.

Although we receive a lot of acid rain, we also have a lot of limestone in our soil. Additionally, our watersheds flow over and through a lot of different materials, which tend to neutralize our water. My rain gauge may show a pH of 5.4, but the water flowing into my pond is always very close to 7.0 as it passes through everything. My pond stays at a consistent 7.0.

It may take as long as two or three years for your pond to stabilize due to the disturbance of the soils below it. Just keep track of it. You mentioned cattle in one of your posts or messages. The cattle are probably going to fertilize your pond with manure, but they could also overwhelm it, depending on how many of them there are, and if the pastures are fertilized. There are a lot of mitigation techniques if they overwhelm it, and you can always add fertilizer if they aren't doing their job.

Until you have the pond for at least one full season, I don't think I'd do any chemical enhancements.

Ken

Subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine

Peculiar Friends are Better than No Friends at All!