When I dug the main pond I put the topsoil aside they way you're supposed to do. I dressed the banks with it after construction, but then decided to dig the pond 2' deeper a couple weeks after that. So now the topsoil is covered with a thin layer of red clay soil from where the pond was dug out deeper.

I've sowed seed out there several times, but am not having grass come up near as fast or thick as I would like. A good bit of silt is being dumped into the pond because of the lack of thick grass. I've already sowed a mix of annual & perennial rye, a couple types of fescue, and bluegrass. Part of the problem is that we have had some really hard rains in the last few weeks and the rain has washed the seed into clumps. So I have little sprigs of grass all over the place, and then a number of very thick clumps where the seed was washed into one spot. This afternoon I'm going to sow some creeping red fescue out there and see how it does.

It would be way too expensive to do landscaping fabric all around the pond, but what are some other things that can be done to get this grass growing better? I'm not sure what type of fertilizer to use or how much to apply, nor which types of grass I should seed more of. I've been told to sow more of a rye mixture.

Thanks,
Eric