I finally started my pond

[bindian]

Looks like your pond is coming along now. you need to move the yardstick - have fun swimming- water must be cold right now.
Is the yardstick reachable with your backhoe and thumb ?

these threads like yours and eddies makes me itching to build my own pond. Problem is snow has just melted here and I am waiting for the soil to dry out some so I can drive on it without getting stuck in the clay and do a test hole dig and see if it even feasible.

Thanks Radioman. I can reach the yardstick right now while wearing rubber boots.
How big a pond are you planning to dig?
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

Brandi,

It looks like that yard stick is about ready for retirement. I found an aluminum one that was painted yellow. In the last few years that I've had it in my spillway, it's faded a fair amount, but it's still very easy to read the numbers. I really like it and find that we go to it just to see how much the water has dropped during the summer. Getting it set to the right depth was a bit of a challenge, but a straight 2x4 resting on the spillway and a level gave me a pretty good idea of how far to set it into the ground. Right now, my spillway is overflowing and you can't see the yardstick. The water is several inches above it.

Eddie

 

[3RRL]

Brandi,
The progress on your pond is just great to follow.
Like radioman, I too am itching to start our pond project.
Problem is, we must make our mind up exactly where. We have several locations picked out and each has it's good and bad points. Indecision and a lot of other stuff to do first will probably mean it's not going to happen real soon. But your thread and Eddie's thread sure put a burning desire to get started every time I read the updates.
They are inspirational to me.

 

[wushaw]

Brandi,
The progress on your pond is just great to follow.
Like radioman, I too am itching to start our pond project.
Problem is, we must make our mind up exactly where. We have several locations picked out and each has it's good and bad points. Indecision and a lot of other stuff to do first will probably mean it's not going to happen real soon. But your thread and Eddie's thread sure put a burning desire to get started every time I read the updates.
They are inspirational to me.

Rob,
You need to have several on your place anyway so all your locations probably need a waterin hole anyway.

 

[bindian]

Brandi,

It looks like that yard stick is about ready for retirement. I found an aluminum one that was painted yellow. In the last few years that I've had it in my spillway, it's faded a fair amount, but it's still very easy to read the numbers. I really like it and find that we go to it just to see how much the water has dropped during the summer. Getting it set to the right depth was a bit of a challenge, but a straight 2x4 resting on the spillway and a level gave me a pretty good idea of how far to set it into the ground. Right now, my spillway is overflowing and you can't see the yardstick. The water is several inches above it.

Eddie

Eddie,
I know you are glad you can't see your yardstick. I gather the top of the yardstick is even with the bottom of your spillway? Maybe I can paint the yardstick instead of retiring it. I will give it a shot. The last photo was taken about 3 in the morning. I had a flashlight shining on the water beside it. Digital cameras are awesome with flash on in the dark!
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Brandi,
The progress on your pond is just great to follow.
Like radioman, I too am itching to start our pond project.
Problem is, we must make our mind up exactly where. We have several locations picked out and each has it's good and bad points. Indecision and a lot of other stuff to do first will probably mean it's not going to happen real soon. But your thread and Eddie's thread sure put a burning desire to get started every time I read the updates.
They are inspirational to me.

Rob,
I agree with Wushaw. You need more than one pond out there. Build the first pond in the last place your want one. Then improve your technique on each pond until you make a perfect one where you can see it the most.
hugs, Brandi

 

[radioman]

Thanks Radioman. I can reach the yardstick right now while wearing rubber boots.
How big a pond are you planning to dig?
hugs, Brandi

Cool - rubber boots is the way to go . As for my pond planning, its still in the preliminaries stages of thinking. The location where I want it is on my 1 acre lot across the street here and the pond size will be no where as big near you guys have built. It might be on a 1/4 acre size and might be 6ft or deeper if I could. I plan on starting a thread on this as soon I go a test hole dug this spring or summer.

 

[bindian]

Cool - rubber boots is the way to go . As for my pond planning, its still in the preliminaries stages of thinking. The location where I want it is on my 1 acre lot across the street here and the pond size will be no where as big near you guys have built. It might be on a 1/4 acre size and might be 6ft or deeper if I could. I plan on starting a thread on this as soon I go a test hole dug this spring or summer.

Radioman,
My pond will only be about 30 x 70 feet when full. 1/4 acre is way bigger!
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

The rains last week really helped the pond. I was out in the rain watching water draining off of the property. I have a lot of work to do to direct all that run off into the pond. The pond is about 4 feet from being full. You can see the new overflow pipe just under the pier's frame. We have bull frogs in the pond now. I have seen a bunch of them jumping in the water when I approach the pond, but today I saw one in the water floating and it was about 4 inches long. Counting down now..............20 days until I go pick up the Blue Channel Catfish. Oh yeah, the cinder block fish hotel is taking on water.
hugs, Brandi

 

[3RRL]

Brandi,
Sounds like you're just chompin' at the bit to get your catfish in.
I can't blame you. It's like taking the existence of your pond to the second level. Those fish will add another dimension of life and fun to it for years to come.
You did the right thing to observe the water run off.
In a different circumstance, it took me years to watch the water flow in regards to my dirt road. It helped me determine exactly where to cut ditches, gutters and channel the water correctly. Having said that, each year it changes a little. lol ... It's like Mother Nature is messin' with me just to keep me busy. In your case, now is the time to get out there and create the channels to your lake. Start at the lake where you want it to enter and work your way back up hill to the water run off source. Then cut the connection to your feeder ditch or you'll be working in mud the whole way down. Also make sure you have some way to slow the water down so you don't get too much mud and debris flowing in.
Keep the posts and pictures coming, I'm loving it.

 

[bindian]

Brandi,

You did the right thing to observe the water run off.
In your case, now is the time to get out there and create the channels to your lake. Start at the lake where you want it to enter and work your way back up hill to the water run off source. Then cut the connection to your feeder ditch or you'll be working in mud the whole way down. Also make sure you have some way to slow the water down so you don't get too much mud and debris flowing in.
Keep the posts and pictures coming, I'm loving it.

Rob,
Uh, I dont have a feeder ditch feeding it. I thought about it, but didn't. I kept thinking how much silt and chemicals it could bring. I am glad now I left the ditch from the road alone. But I do need to terrance in little feeder berms (dikes?) to direct the runoff on the rest of my property into the pond.
hugs, Brandi

 

[3RRL]

Right, that is what I was talking about ... the run off on your property channeled to your lake. I didn't even know you had a road ditch already and I wasn't talking about that. I may have thrown you off when I mentioned my road gutters? I was using that as an example to determine via observation where the water was running off and channeling that to your lake.
Using dikes is a great alternative instead of ditching.

 

[Uncle Doug]

Great pond. I did not think about using the FEL to dig with. Of course it helps to have a backhoe on the other end. I have been lurking around yours and Eddies pond post, mostly to gather ideas for my own pond. I thought about leasing some equipment for a month or so to do the digging.

The problem I would have would be is my property is very narrow (200ft x 25,000ft) and flat. I have thought about a 75x150ft pond but might go larger. There is a shallow ditch that runs along one side of the property. I guess I could use some of the fill to build up around the pond to slope back to the middle. We do get a fair amount of rain fall here on the gulf coast. The next problem is deciding on the location. I have about 300 foot between the house and the barn that my wife wants the pond. The problem is that is where my garden is. I guess I will have to move the garden. The other option is behind the barn within the fenced in area. We currently do not have any livestock other than 1 horse out there.

My grandson (14) has encouraged my wife to take up fishing and she has really enjoyed it the past 2 years.

We have been kicking around the idea of a pond for a few years but had no idea where to start or how to go about it so that it is not just a mud hole in a few years. There have been some great ideas and sugestions given in both the pond threads.

Keep up the good work.

 

[jinman]

Right, that is what I was talking about ... the run off on your property channeled to your lake. I didn't even know you had a road ditch already and I wasn't talking about that. I may have thrown you off when I mentioned my road gutters? I was using that as an example to determine via observation where the water was running off and channeling that to your lake.
Using dikes is a great alternative instead of ditching.

If you have a source of dirt, you can do amazing things with a terrace just 12" to 18" tall. I've completely controlled runoff on my place with simple terraces I just eyeballed from the tractor seat as I built them with bucket after bucket of fill dirt. If you cover the terrace with topsoil and seed in grass, it will stay there and provide water redirection without being a barrier. You can drive up and over these types of terraces if you make them 8' wide at the base. You'll be a runoff control expert in no time at all.

 

[3RRL]

Jim,
That is great advice. I need to do that concept for the proposed garden area.
I built 4 terraces in the front yard(s) exactly like you describe, except they are taller. I used boulders like a retaining wall and a trench to funnel the overflow to where it needed to go. You may have seen them in my Log Home thread? For Brandi's pond, I was trying to convey the idea of channeling that water on her land, the run off she saw, to her pond. On my land, I trenched along the bottom of some areas to collect the run off and route it all to a large culvert. In my case, I didn't want it to flow over the road (which it was doing). My road has gutters cut along it's side, but some areas it spilled over and the road remained wet because it was soaked. By cutting a ditch up away from the road, most of the water collected in that and was routed directly to the culverts into the natural arroyos.

With that in mind, I was thinking trenching is a good way to collect water from much farther away places ... channeling it to get to the terraces and providing additional sources of water for the pond? The trenches get it to the terraces which will slow it down and filter it. When I build my pond, I'll use the dikes and terracing concept for water entering the pond. With growth on the terraces, it should filter out nicely before entering the pond. I believe that's what Brandi wants to do with her run off?

 

[bindian]

Jim,
That is great advice. I need to do that concept for the proposed garden area.
I built 4 terraces in the front yard(s) exactly like you describe, except they are taller. I used boulders like a retaining wall and a trench to funnel the overflow to where it needed to go. You may have seen them in my Log Home thread? For Brandi's pond, I was trying to convey the idea of channeling that water on her land, the run off she saw, to her pond. On my land, I trenched along the bottom of some areas to collect the run off and route it all to a large culvert. In my case, I didn't want it to flow over the road (which it was doing). My road has gutters cut along it's side, but some areas it spilled over and the road remained wet because it was soaked. By cutting a ditch up away from the road, most of the water collected in that and was routed directly to the culverts into the natural arroyos.

With that in mind, I was thinking trenching is a good way to collect water from much farther away places ... channeling it to get to the terraces and providing additional sources of water for the pond? The trenches get it to the terraces which will slow it down and filter it. When I build my pond, I'll use the dikes and terracing concept for water entering the pond. With growth on the terraces, it should filter out nicely before entering the pond. I believe that's what Brandi wants to do with her run off?

Rob,
What Jim is describing is what I want to do. The last rain floated my yardstick depth guage right out of the hole I hammered it into.
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm also a big fan of changing the contour of the land to catch water and send it to my ponds. My small pond is only 3/4 of a acre, and I've been channeling water towards it from all over my land, and even my neighbors land. Where the water runs off of his pasture, I catch it in a ditch that runs along one of my roads. I had to move allot of dirt to get it to go where I wanted it, but the results have been spectacular.

I like roads best of all for catching water. They are built up to shed water, so they work perfect for catching it too. I then try to run the water to my ponds along the sides of the road, and then put the culverts in where I need the water to go to the ponds.

Right now, I'm finishing off a massive ditch that goes through the middle of my back pasture and where a small hill used to be. I had to cut the hill in half and then remove all the dirt on either side of the ditch so it looks natural. It's been a two year project that is finally starting to look like what I want it to. I'm not catching another dozen acres of runoff because of this, which flows straight into Lake Marabou. I was seeing where the water was going before, and it was killing me to see the erosion that the water was causing as well as how much I was losing because it was going in the wrong direction.

Brandi,

Any more pics? Is the pond full? How is the grass doing?

I'm waiting on warmer temps to plant Bermuda grass. It's still too cold here with our highs just barely getting into the 70's and our low temps in the 40's every morning. 41 degrees this morning!!!

Eddie

 

[bindian]

I'm also a big fan of changing the contour of the land to catch water and send it to my ponds. My small pond is only 3/4 of a acre, and I've been channeling water towards it from all over my land, and even my neighbors land. Where the water runs off of his pasture, I catch it in a ditch that runs along one of my roads. I had to move allot of dirt to get it to go where I wanted it, but the results have been spectacular.

I like roads best of all for catching water. They are built up to shed water, so they work perfect for catching it too. I then try to run the water to my ponds along the sides of the road, and then put the culverts in where I need the water to go to the ponds.

Right now, I'm finishing off a massive ditch that goes through the middle of my back pasture and where a small hill used to be. I had to cut the hill in half and then remove all the dirt on either side of the ditch so it looks natural. It's been a two year project that is finally starting to look like what I want it to. I'm not catching another dozen acres of runoff because of this, which flows straight into Lake Marabou. I was seeing where the water was going before, and it was killing me to see the erosion that the water was causing as well as how much I was losing because it was going in the wrong direction.

Brandi,

Any more pics? Is the pond full? How is the grass doing?

I'm waiting on warmer temps to plant Bermuda grass. It's still too cold here with our highs just barely getting into the 70's and our low temps in the 40's every morning. 41 degrees this morning!!!

Eddie

Eddie,
No, I have been over my Dad's house two of the last three weekends with my tractor cleaning up the mess (digging burial holes) my adopted brother left. I had him evicted to sale Dad's house. The middle of the 3 weekends had me down sick with sinus crud. I hope to dodge some of that forecasted rain this weekend and work on the run off diversion berms. Then I will get more photos. It is almost warm enough here to plant bermuda, but I still haven't figured out how to get bermuda grass seed in the soil on the dam. A disc will flat tear it up with my tractor. I keep thinking a drag harrow pulled behind my 18 hp zero turn lawnmower. Any other ideas?
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

Brandi,

Bermuda seed doesn't need to go very deep. The real trick is the temperature and getting water on it. The seed is tiny!!!! You have to be very careful when spreading it to not put too much down. While there is nothing wrong with too much seed, it's expensive and there is no real advantage to extra seed. As long as there is just a little loose dirt, the seed will stay in place and germinate. I'd bet that your tractor tires are enough to tear up the ground enough for planting. Then pull something over it like a log drag to mix the seed into the soil. Shallow planting is better then going too deep. You are also getting to that time of the year where you need to buy hulled seed. Bermuda seed is like a nut. There is a shell around the seed. In nature, the seed will sit there for years with that shell protecting it. Then when conditions are right, the shell will rot away and the seed will germinate. You can buy hulled seed without the shell and get it to grow almost instantly. It's the only way to go this time of the year. Just wait for temps to get into the 80's and you should be fine. I"m planning on buying and planting seed next month for my pasture.

Eddie

 

[bindian]

Eddie,
I will try the tractor tire breaking the top soil. But some parts of the dam, I don't want to get the tractor on, as it is just too narrow for the tractor to be safely on it. Call me scared. What I need to do is get Dad's 8 hp Troybilt tiller running. Anyway, I think I will wait to May also. Here are a few photos I snapped this afternoon. As you can see, I have some work to do around the inlet erosion.
hugs, Brandi