Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Clay pond not clearing up

I put in a pond 2 years ago and all is well except the suspended clay particles are not settling at all. I will get a mix to put in to the water and it is supposed to bond with the free floaters and sink them to the floor. All that I get but what I need a some help or info is what can i grow in my pond to help it stay clear. Some kind of grass or something that will grow on the clay but not take over the pond.
Thanks

Welcome to the forum. You mean something like this?

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=124005#Post124005

You have to get (Bermuda) or something else to grow above the water to keep clay from washing into the pond. If something is in there to stir up the pond bottom, getting plants growing in there won't help much.

Yes my pond looks just like that and my dogs like to run in there too.LOL I have stopped 60% of the run off and I am putting down sod next weekend to stop the rest.

Wolfmann, welcome aboard. esshup is right on target with the info he gave you. Also be aware that your watershed could be contributing to the muddiness, so check that for bare soil also.

If you don't get a good ground cover this summer, I would also think about annual rye grass this fall to get the remaining bare spots. Just be aware that the rye may create a lot of maintenance mowing wise early in the year.

And finally, once your water clears, you'll probably get shoreline and emergent weeds. Primrose, pennywart and coontail are all pretty common in your area. Stay on top of them early, and they're much easier and cheaper to control.

Tell us about your pond, and your goals for it.

Been there!

If you have enough chemicals dissolved in your water, neither fish, wind, or lack of plants can muddy it up significantly.

Once your water is treated, beware of inflow and outflow. You don't want your treated water escaping, and being replaced with soft rain water. Rain water if course is the worst kind for holding clay in suspension.

If you have full time or temporary access to well water, it may be a cheaper alternative to chemicals. That's assuming of course the well water is fairly hard. One good fill up with hard well water can last forever if you have little to no outflow.

Wolfman, I dug a pond in red clay as well. The runoff into the pond carries way more clay particles than one would first think. Look around the shoreline for obvious erosion and address the issue there first. I created a rip-rap buffer where this was occuring on my pond and as the water flows into this area, it slows down and drops a lot of mud before running into the pond. Eventually it will fill in, but it'll take a while. If you can go uphill and create low terraces or obstacles, and get a good grass stand in those areas, it will go a long way to solving your problem. I'm in Clay County, TX and the county wasn't named for the soil type, but it is extremely fitting.

I can only speak from my own experience, and your results may vary. Have you added any organic materials to the pond? I add grass clippings occasionally, and older ranchers in the area use hay bales to kickstart the transition from a hole in the clay to being a pond.

Keep after it, you'll learn a lot on this forum and trying new things with the pond.

Confining your inflow and routing it over some crushed Limestone Rip/Rap will harden the water considerably and help to strain some soil/clay out as well.