Once upon a sentence , a recollective time ago , the previous owner of my northern Wisconsin farm built amulti - purpose pondfor both performance and pleasure .
The majority of the pond was enclosed by fence and featured a couple of wooden docks . The remainder of the pool was open and approachable by the dairy farm cows roaming the circumvent field and woodlands .
Disuse & Disrepair
But that was a long meter ago . The pool has n’t been used by cattle in forty years at least , and it ’s in want of some mending .
And while the more late past times has run into the pond allow for ahabitat for wildlife(a large population ofspring peepersand the occasional pair of nestingmallard ducks ) , the pond is slowly lose its battle for natural selection .
It ’s been rooted with aquatic botany for as long as I ’ve known it . Cattails and weewee - loving grasses gradually diminish the size and astuteness of the pool .
Though the pool presently serves no practical purpose on my farm , in the back of my mind I ’ve always wanted to repair and restore it to its former glory . I dreamed of removing the masses of plant ( both stagnant and alive ) and repairing the bank to expand its usefulness as a wildlife sanctuary and esthetical magnet .
My desire has been rush by the sudden , striking decline of the pool over the last few year ago . Seemingly in the blink of an optic , the water volume of the pool dipped sharp . At this stage , it ’s become more of a marsh than a genuine water feature .
Should you dredge your farm pond ? Maybe , though you need to do it right .
Course of Action
Confused by this rapid regress , I started see the pond in closer point last class . Then I plot a course of action of action to begin the restoration .
Its design is clever . It ’s deposit near the bottom of a north - facing gradient , with a large clay depository financial institution built on the north side to capture and contain the rainwater ( and spring meltwater ) that naturally menstruate downhill .
I focused my attending on the north banking concern , note how the water seemed to be carving its way underneath the bank . I began to surmise the water had found a way to go against the depository financial institution . sure enough enough , my mistrust were confirm this fountain when snow fade and the pond thawed .
Though the pond test to fill , I could see water hotfoot and gurgling its way under the bank . Here , it flowed through a magnanimous rock pile and out into a low clarification behind the pool .
Having identified the crusade of the pond ’s sudden decline , the grade of action at law I need to take is square . Clearing out aquatic plant can wait . Before anything else , I need to reestablish the integrity of the bank , or all other efforts will be for naught .
Here ’s how to progress a pond to support local wildlife .
The Repair Work
But repairing the bank will be easier said than done .
It ’s a narrow bank with outrageous slope . The northward side is block by a sturdy row of windbreak Tree . This makes it near unsufferable for large machinery to enter the bank without steep straight through the pond itself .
So instead of tackling the Book of Job with H.P. , I ’m using manpower — my own muscularity , mate with a dig coon . I made an effort right off in the spring to regain the accurate location of the leak . But my attempt were foil by frozen solid ground .
I did , however , transfer a few chunk of sod . Once the terra firma dethaw , I was pleasantly surprised to see a small portion of the north bank collapse entirely , discover the hidden tunnel .
Slowly but surely , I ’m profit earth in my battle to mend the pond . Spring is a fussy time of twelvemonth , but as soon as thing slow down down a little , I ’ll be back at the pond with my digger in handwriting , rationalize away the sod to fully expose the fractured section of the bank .
Since the deepness of the pool has sink below the burrow at this breaker point , I project to punch the opening as exhaustively as I can with clay soil and rocks . Then I ’ll waitress patiently for next spring to find the yield of my labour .
With a bit of luck , the bank will hold hearty and the pond will fill to a degree approaching its long - ago peak , the first stair towardrestoring the pool to its former glory .
