Since digging my 1acre pond 5 years ago, its been nothing short of a disaster. Like many of you, Ive always dreamed about having a nice pond. My pond leaked after the first year and hasnt stopped. Finally had the original excavator out this fall to drain, smooth bottom, and line with clay. To make a looong story short...the excavator scraped all the soft sludge from the bottom and piled it around the inner banks and wont return to finish it. My house is built right on the pond so I have to make it look decent. Im planning on using Soilfloc to address the leak, but for now I have to clean up the huge mess.
Ive decided to rent an excavator and dozer and finish it myself with a friends help. Ill save a ton of money this way. The banks were originally cut steep to deter weed growth. This looks awful when you dont have much water. Id like to make a long taper to water level so that I can maintain grass. I want to dig all the sludge out and push it away. Here are my main questions:
1: after I remove sludge, is it better to make my new tapered inner banks by cutting back virgin ground or by merely pushing dirt around to taper it off?
2:if time permits with my rental, Id like to dig a few deep holes in the bottom. Currently the bottom is small chunks of limestone and clay/sand. All the water percolates through this. Is there a chance I could dig into a gravel vein and open a drain?
