Natural ponds
- Thread starter loconorc
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Easiest thing to do would be to find a piece of property w/ a pond already there. Take a tree inventory to get an idea of the amount of invasives needed to remove. Re-establish w/native trees and shrubs for small mammals and bird nesting spots. If not to wooded, plant some prairie plants along the wood edges to create a savanah zone, this being good butterfly and bird habitat. A wet praire/mesic zone would be cool around the pond. A lot of work, but can be done w/little to no money (once the property is bought). Very little cost, since the soil will have many domant native seeds just waiting to pop. Removal of all exotics/invasives will allow for natives to return. The reptiles/amphs./and small mammals will be introduced by you later, or after a good spring rain.
Hmmm, I really don't know what your looking for. We have built 3 ponds in FLorida. Maint.....?? None lol. You build them and let nature run it's course. No filtration or anything needed. Once the pond gets a little mre established you can stock it with what you want.
I guess it depends on how much you want to interfere with the pond. After a couple years the ones we made look all natural.....like they were just created naturally.
Snakes, frogs, birds, raccons, hell just about anything else will find their way to it. A lot will stay and some will pass through.
I guess it depends on how much you want to interfere with the pond. After a couple years the ones we made look all natural.....like they were just created naturally.
Snakes, frogs, birds, raccons, hell just about anything else will find their way to it. A lot will stay and some will pass through.
i cant really contribute to your original question but one of the pods i fish at is man made it went awhile without being maintained but just recently the hotel that owns it was put under new management and they really cleaned up the place
also where is that pond and nature center, it looks like a cool place and i want to go sometime and can you keep stuff that you net out of there?
also where is that pond and nature center, it looks like a cool place and i want to go sometime and can you keep stuff that you net out of there?
If I stock it with turtles and frogs though, will they stay if the pond suits their needs?
And how long do you think it would take for larger animals to discover the pond and stick around? I would do as much as possible to attract other animals, for example bird feeders, snake hibernacula, compost piles, and planting lots of beneficial native plants. I wouldn't dig a big hole, fill it with water, and plunk a turtle in it.
I'm wondering specifically what to stock with though, as far as turtles, frogs and larger fish. I would get more than enough minnows, crayfish, shrimp, etc to start a food chain, but I'm iffy about some animals. Would a few catfish or eels scare off any smaller animals, or deplete the populations of food? They don't seem to get particularly massive around here, the biggest ours have grown on exhibit are about a foot for the cats and 18 inches for the eel. I know we have them in our pond, but I have no idea how many. As for turtles, I would try for around the same amount our pond has. From what I can count, there are 3 snappers, about 10 red-ears, and around 7 painteds. Other than that, there are unknown numbers of stinkpots and muds, and the occasional spotted. Again, I'll have to see what I can get from one of our 'pond raids'.
Hidden Pond nature center is in Springfield, Virginia. A little far from New Hampshire! But if you ever pass through, feel free to pop in sometime, maybe during my shift!
And I have no idea who Frank Lloyd Wight is... sorry.
And how long do you think it would take for larger animals to discover the pond and stick around? I would do as much as possible to attract other animals, for example bird feeders, snake hibernacula, compost piles, and planting lots of beneficial native plants. I wouldn't dig a big hole, fill it with water, and plunk a turtle in it.
I'm wondering specifically what to stock with though, as far as turtles, frogs and larger fish. I would get more than enough minnows, crayfish, shrimp, etc to start a food chain, but I'm iffy about some animals. Would a few catfish or eels scare off any smaller animals, or deplete the populations of food? They don't seem to get particularly massive around here, the biggest ours have grown on exhibit are about a foot for the cats and 18 inches for the eel. I know we have them in our pond, but I have no idea how many. As for turtles, I would try for around the same amount our pond has. From what I can count, there are 3 snappers, about 10 red-ears, and around 7 painteds. Other than that, there are unknown numbers of stinkpots and muds, and the occasional spotted. Again, I'll have to see what I can get from one of our 'pond raids'.
Hidden Pond nature center is in Springfield, Virginia. A little far from New Hampshire! But if you ever pass through, feel free to pop in sometime, maybe during my shift!
And I have no idea who Frank Lloyd Wight is... sorry.
wow is this thread bringing back memories!! i grew up in springfield va and spent many many days and nights roaming through the woods, creeks and ponds. how fun that was! i used to have tons of tanks at my house that were full of nothing but locally caught fish, amphibians and reptiles.
sorry to derail...back to your questions, i'm not sure exactly where you live but if you do live anywhere near a small stream or creek you can always tap into that and build a small pond. you can either dig out an area to the size you want and reroute the stream to flow through it and back to its natural course. Or you can just dig out your pond and dig an additional channel from the creek to your pond w/o actually rerouting the stream itself. obviously i'm referring to a very small creek here if you plan to reroute it. not exactly accotink creek or anything that big but more like a small stream that feeds something larger like accotink creek. like the guys before me mentioned, you should just let it be for a while once its full of water to see how it changes naturally. then you can go in and add any additional plants and animals. personally i would keep it all local stock. fill it with minnows and schools of sunfish/blue gill, inverts etc. i'd wait to add any predators like catfish until the smaller schools of feeders are established or you will end up with hungry pred's. you might even want to wait a little while before you add any turtles too. first things first....you need to make this environment attractive to wild species. the way to do that is make it a smörgåsbord of free food for them. fill it with as many types of local 'feeders' as it can hold. then the rest will come find it. otherwise even the predators you introduce will eventually die or leave due to lack of food.
oh and btw...frank lloyd wrigt is a very famous architect. you should look into his work when you get time. very impressive and well thought out designs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright
coco
sorry to derail...back to your questions, i'm not sure exactly where you live but if you do live anywhere near a small stream or creek you can always tap into that and build a small pond. you can either dig out an area to the size you want and reroute the stream to flow through it and back to its natural course. Or you can just dig out your pond and dig an additional channel from the creek to your pond w/o actually rerouting the stream itself. obviously i'm referring to a very small creek here if you plan to reroute it. not exactly accotink creek or anything that big but more like a small stream that feeds something larger like accotink creek. like the guys before me mentioned, you should just let it be for a while once its full of water to see how it changes naturally. then you can go in and add any additional plants and animals. personally i would keep it all local stock. fill it with minnows and schools of sunfish/blue gill, inverts etc. i'd wait to add any predators like catfish until the smaller schools of feeders are established or you will end up with hungry pred's. you might even want to wait a little while before you add any turtles too. first things first....you need to make this environment attractive to wild species. the way to do that is make it a smörgåsbord of free food for them. fill it with as many types of local 'feeders' as it can hold. then the rest will come find it. otherwise even the predators you introduce will eventually die or leave due to lack of food.
oh and btw...frank lloyd wrigt is a very famous architect. you should look into his work when you get time. very impressive and well thought out designs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright
coco
oh btw...i have no clue about the local laws so before you go reroute any creeks on public land you should go check and make sure it's legal to do so. 
just to be safe.
just to be safe.I would say if you want to stock anything native it would be ok. Obviously do some research first. It can be a delicate balance so you would'nt want to add too many dominant species of any kind for obvious reasons. I would be very very careful with messing with anything non native. Actually i would recommend against it 100% in a natural pond, unless it is your and your 100% sure that they couldn't spread. When I was little we put some perch in my fathers pond that were not legal but that was way way back in the day when things didn't really matter. (trying to remember what kind of perch) Had a lot of purple on it....anyway, let us know what you decide.
I've been there before (Hidden Pond) and it is very beautiful (I live in Springfield, VA). I really like the exhibit inside too! Last time I went (last summer maybe?) I saw some baby turtles (only an inch or two in diameter) in one of the exhibits and it was one of the coolest things. Too bad we can't buy turtles that small anymore!
