Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Beach Sand

Looking for a way to get white sand for the beach area around our pond in Upstate NY. Does anyone know where to get it that won't break the bank. Home Depot charges $4 for 50 lb bags. I was thinking that Golf Course sand trap sand may work but have not been able to find a source.
Any advice is welcome.

Do you not have sand plants anywhere around you? Here, it's about $6/ton, delivered unless you want "DOT Spec" sand...double the price.

That sand trap sand (at least here) is worth about 10-15 times as much. It's called river sand, is much coarser and drains VERY fast. They use it to build sand traps and greens. Local pits sell it in 1 ton super sacks throughout the midwest and can't dredge it fast enough.

Try here: Dutchess Quarry & Supply Co
Address: 320 Route 17a, Goshen, NY 10924
Phone: (845) 294-5022

If they don't sell it, they can tell you who does. They can also point you to haulers, or they may haul it for you.

Otherwise, do a Yahoo yellow pages search in your area for trucking/hauling outfits or building contractors. They (truckers) haul this stuff for a living and can tell you where and how much $$$.

Tuzz,

I don't know if you checked here but they might be able to help, they are in Napanoch.
http://www.209sandandgravel.com/products/

I'd like some sand from Panama City but can't afford to bring that much up with me.

To calculate how much you'll need for a given area use the calculator at the following link;

http://www.whitesandco.com/index.php?category=6&document=14

Thanks Chip. $740 plus tax for 16 yds. of "Long Island Beach Sand" Will look at a sample but it sounds right. About 2X the cost of Mason sand but may be what I want.

Thanks for the input guys. One more question. What kind of sand are you using for those who have a beach area around their ponds? The Mason sand I bought last year appears good to get rid of the "squishies" in the water but it packs like a brick and tends to stay wet along the shore line when we get rain. For some reason it is slow to drain. I plan to push the Mason sand all into the water as we did not get enough to extend it out beyond walk in depth.

I bought the cheapest mix available, what they refer to as "fill sand". It's not real clean, might find a few pebbles in it, but hey, it's a BEACH! Couldn't really afford to put much else in there, because it took about 30 tons of the stuff to do the small beach we have, including spreading it out in the pond a bit...

please note that the really white sand is very fine and could end up only as soil amendment. We one brought some back from Destin/Panama City for a sandbox. Didnt last long. You may want to put it as a topping over some courser sand.

Best to lay down some Visquene(?sp)under the sand or grass will grow through and it will disappear into the soil of the bank. The sand will become soil-like and support all manner of weeds in a few months also.

Where do we get Visquene(?sp)

Any hardware or home depot will have it; it's thick plastic sheeting.

The Visqueen (sp?) will keep any rain water on top of it and help wash your sand into the pond.
Another alternative might be landscape fabric, available at Lowes or any garden center or nusery.

It is a black, tightly woven fabric that does not let weeds grow thru it but allows water to drain thru it.

I have always pronounced it "visqueen" but believe it is actually spelled "visquilene."

You should also find it at farm supply stores like TSC.

LANDSCAPE FABIC IS FAR BETTER THAN A PLASTIC IT WILL LAST LONGER WATER CAN PASS THROUGHT IT AND THE SAND WILL NOT SLID ON IT. 6-8 INCHES DEEP OF SAND WILL COVER

I have to lime my pond every 5 years or so. When I last limed it, 2 years ago, I had 75 tons blown into the water over the entire pond from a floating barge and had 25 tons spread on the shore and into the water in the loading area to make a sort of beach. I figured that the underwater lime would slowly dissolve and the shoreline part would slowly wash in so that the "beach" would be pretty for a while and also functional insofar as water quality was concerned.

The underwater part looks good still, but the lime on the shore eroded unevenly, making small gullies. It also fused to form hard lime (except after a rain, when it got mucky).

I wonder what would have happened if I had put sand under or on top of or mixed with the shoreline lime. I plan to play around with the idea next time I lime. Has anyone tried anything like this?
Lou 13.5 acres