Island pond filling.

[turtlemike]

 A few new pics of the island pond slowly filling.  2-3 inches of rain, but the first inch just basically got the lily beds wet because they where so dry.

  Wrong date on 2 pics.

[Julles]

I can't believe you have to wait 2 years for those to fill in.  That's what I call long-range planning!

[landey1230]

2 years?    Wow.  I'm following this thread till I see lily pads.   

[turtlemike]

  It won't take 2 years, 3 inches of rain has put 2 ft. of water in the deepest parts of the pond.One more ft. and it will be in the lily beds. You will see lily pads this spring and by about this time next year the pond should be almost full. 4 ft. of rain will almost fill an 8 ft deep pond with sloping sides. But this pond is mostly flat bottomed so it will take longer to fill the last 5 ft or so.

  It will be allowed to fill to the very top,brim full.   6 and 3 quarters of an inch is as much rain as I have seen here in 24 hours.  So 6 inches of dam above the water should be fine.

  From my point of view this is not a slow process because I will be in a race to plant it as the water is rising. That's a big pond to plant and I kind of hope it fills slowly so I don't have to work in deep water.  Or as fast.

 

[miguynmkoi]

Looking good!  If I had the same fortune of a large pond it would take more than a few years to let rain fill it.  I'd share our wonderful rain that we are experiencing now but selfishly we need it very badly here....I'm saving on my watering bill!  "Happy rain dancing here!"

[Julles]

Will the water be clear, or kind of muddy brown, like so many farm ponds?

[turtlemike]

If the whole pond was full of the muddiest water,  I could have it almost clear in about a week.
  If I spread about, oh I would say, 6 bails of hay spread on the surface it will clear right up. 
   Another thing is that as soon as I get an area that drains into the pond finished I will mulch it and seed it in spring,   that will prevent much mud from going into the pond during rains.

   No mater what I do the water will have a spring plankton algae bloom and the water will remain cloudy somewhat until I get the shoreline plants and lilies growing.  Cloudiness from waves is a real issue until the spike rush etc gets established.  Without shoreline plants the water in a new pond of this size will rock back and forth like water in a bathtub when the wind blows.. I mean 6-10 inches of water rise and fall as the water rocks back and forth.   And then there's the waves breaking on shore.  That is a wind powered mud making machine.   Lilies and spike rush totally prevent this and the water will get very clear and stay that way at no cost.  The rocking ceases and no wave ever touches shore.

[Mikey]

Do you have burrowing animals that might cause the pond to drain?

[turtlemike]

  That's a good question Mikey. 

   The only thing that there is would be muskrats.  But they live down by the river and I doubt that they come up on the mountain.
  Crayfish used to worry me a little because they live in the soil around here in tunnels that they dig down hill from springs and in creek bottom land but they don't like ponds apparently.  I think they like water flow down in the bottom of there holes for oxygen and waste removal and the hard packed clay and rock dam does not provide that for them.
  I don't think ground hogs would dig into the dam. They live out in the woods and avoid the fields around here anyway.

  We have beavers but they would just try to plug leaks if anything.
  We also have river otters but they don't dig.

[Indiana Karen]

Wow  that's a really nice pond.

Love that first picture.

[turtlemike]

    I'm still working on the west dam so I drained the deep spot so I could get dirt from the bottom of the dam and put it on the top to steepen it and widen it and raise it.
  It looks like the west dam will be the road because I have more dirt to work with and the top can be wider and taller.
  The east dam can be taller now because it doesn't have to be as wide or flat topped for a road and that lets me  deepen the whole pond.

[PondJoy]

Wow, this is so impressive.

I wanted to let you know that I have a friend with a lake with millions of lillies...anyway he has terrible trouble with beavers damming it up and then the water goes over the spillway and you can imagine the kind of trouble that causes..

Here's to a beaver free pond!!

[turtlemike]

  Pondjoy, What kind and or color of lilies does your friend have in his pond ?  I assume they are a wild species like Odorata or Mexicana ?

[PondJoy]

I have only ever seen white.  No idea what they are called.  Too many snakes out there to get close!

[turtlemike]

  Some more pics of the pond filling. 

  Seeing it fill from pic to pic gives you some idea of the bottom topography.

   Water has filled the two deep areas and is just entering the big lily beds.
 
  I should begin planting it in a few weeks. Still a lot of work to do on the island and some dam work.

[tinkster]

looking good!!! cant wait to see this one filled.  pick a day when you wanna do some planting and let me know.

tink

[Kat]

Looking good ... lots of hard work but it is going to be wonderful to see when filled with water & lilies.