I am brand new to forums so please be kind! We recently moved into a new house with 250' of pond shoreline. The pond is ~40 years old and ~2 acres in size. Our shoreline, though, is very shallow. About 20' out from the shoreline, the pond is still only 1-2' deep. I would like to dredge this out to get a more natural, steeper slope to the pond. My idea is as follows:
1. We have access to an excavator with an extension arm - so we should be able to remove quite a bit of pond muck / sludge from the bottom. 2. Since we have no great place to put the pond sludge, my thought was to pile it up near my existing shoreline to create a flatter sloping edge. Right now (see pics) part of my shoreline is much too steep to enjoy. I would like to "fill" this in with the sludge and smooth out the edge. 3. Eventually if all goes well, the pond would be deeper and I could introduce more fish and submerged plants 4. My shoreline would be more use-able (much less steep) and I could plant native edging plants to give it a softer and more natural look.
My question is - Has anyone ever used sludge to build up, or even create new, shoreline? Will the sludge "fill in" nicely and can I immediately begin to lay seed to get it to not erode back into the pond? I eventually want to put in native pond plants (not just grass) to give the pond a softer and more natural edge.
Thank you for any suggestions / advice! Hope you like the pics and I would be happy to post more pics of any progress! I have already added a much needed aerator / diffuser system to the pond and also added a small beach that my 2 year old loves to play on!
