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Across the Fence:  Pond drying up advice.  |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
1406 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 16 2012 : 11:55:41 AM
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We have had very little rain and none in sight. Our pond gets lower every day. I know there isn't much we can do but I am so sad about the frogs, turtles and fish. We have a huge turtle that we see every year and I would hate if it moved to a better pond.
A master gardener did tell me it's good for the pond to dry up every so often as it will strengthen the floor of the pond.
I guess I have to just let nature take its course but would this be a good time to maybe have it dug deeper?
The pond is about 75x75 feet across. It is about 8-10 feet deep durning rainy season.
Just looking for advice or sympathy 
....it's what's inside a women, when she's up against the land.
Farmgirl #680!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lessielouise22 |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2012 : 1:19:39 PM
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Well I will give you sympathy, that's for sure! A few years back (at our old place) we had a creek that wound through the property. It was about 20 feet across and up to 9 feet deep in places. We had 13 acres. Well, something happened and it started drying up. It was so sad, like you say, about the frogs and turtles and fish. I called everyone I knew to find out what to do about it, but no one had any solutions. We even called the Dept. of Natural Resources for help and they were clueless about what to do. When winter came it finally filled back up (because of all the snow) but it was so sad to watch it dry up and worry about it!
I hope that the weather turns and gives you some rain. I'm not sure if digging it deeper would help at all if there isn't any rain. Hugs to you and fingers crossed!
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com
www.thehmmmschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.amydingmann.com |
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AnnieinIdaho
True Blue Farmgirl
437 Posts
Annie
ID
USA
437 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2012 : 2:16:46 PM
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Hi---I really have no knowledge on ponds, but I do know that even in Death Valley, the desert areas dry to hard cake pans and somehow with each year's brief monsoon and flash floods, the tiny fish, frogs, and turtle eggs that have been buried under the hot baked clay and dirt are born and another cycle repeats itself. Hopefully, your pond will once again fill up and another generation of living creatures will thrive. Your turtle may find a place to hide out until more water comes around. I worry that if you dig deeper you will disturb these hidden micro-organisms that will spring to life when the pond fills again. Even the wild flower seeds that have laid dormant some for decades suddenly bloom.
Best to you now!
Annie
"The turnings of life seldom show a sign-post; or rather, though the sign is always there, it is usually placed some distance back, like the notices that give warning of a bad hill or a level railway-crossing." Edith Wharton, 1913 from 'The Custom of the Country'. |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
1406 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2012 : 2:59:35 PM
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Annette that is a good point. I read a book about a homesteader who had to drain his pond and how devastated he was as the little creatures died. Well he rebuilt the pond and with in weeks had turtles back, the dragonflies and birds were there, the circle of life started over. I has forgot about that.
Thank you for the sympathy Amy!
....it's what's inside a women, when she's up against the land.
Farmgirl #680!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lessielouise22 |
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magnoliakathy
True Blue Farmgirl
453 Posts
Kathryn
Magnolia
Texas
USA
453 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2012 : 05:55:31 AM
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Our pond has dried up 3 times in the last 16 years. The local raccons and possoms have a feast as the water gets lower, and we have to restock every time. Apparently, the frogs and turtles bury themselves in the mud because, as soon as, there is rain and the least little bit of water is retained in the pond the frogs come back, as the pond gets deeper the turtles come back too. There is a rainwater marsh on the other side of the fence from our pond, it dries out all the time, all of those frogs and turtles are surviving somewhere. Our pond is 30' wide x 300' long x 16' deep.
When you free your mind your heart can fly. Farmgirl # 714, |
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Across the Fence: Pond drying up advice. |
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Pond drying up advice.
