Is pond muck worthwhile as a soil amendment?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

Yeah. I tried that. They have a reputation for doing this. If you have a "wild" area, their policy is to let the trees lie and rot. So, being out of town with a bunch of woods, that's what they consider my property.

WOW they sure dont do that here.
They keep the right of ways clear.
A wonderful place for the deer.



Worth

[crazyoldgooseman]

I feel like pond muck got a bad name.

[clkeiper]

I don't think it is a "bad" amendment. It is best used to "bulk" up the soil you already have. It just has no nutritional value for the plants and needs a lot of other amendments/ nutrients added to it to produce a healthy plant with fruit. If you have it I see no reason to not use it other than maybe worry over what may have been introduced through rain run-off and deposited in the pond before it was mucked out. I wouldn't buy it to put it on the garden, thats for sure.

[bughunter99]

Yes it is good stuff, but be careful working with it. The muck at the bottom as a whole lot of anaerobic (stinky) decomposition going on. You really should compost it first, or at least dry it out before using it.

I would also consider what may have been added to the pond over the years. It is was a wholly organic operation no problem. Be aware, however that some fish keepers add some pretty soil toxic things to their ponds as part of their fish keeping. Salt is one.

I would consider a patch test first before you go through too much work.

I use the string algae at the bottom of my pond, and the muck it collects all the time but I compost it some first as it is very effective at shedding water when it is too fresh.

Stacy

[Worth1]

I may be doing this just to hear myself rattle but well what the who.
If you google pond muck and do an image search it really makes you wonder about the fish ponds some people have.
There are some really disgusting pictures out there.

If I had a pond it wouldn't be no time at all that a snapping turtle would show up and make a home.

Worth

[bughunter99]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I may be doing this just to hear myself rattle but well what the who.
If you google pond muck and do an image search it really makes you wonder about the fish ponds some people have.
There are some really disgusting pictures out there.

If I had a pond it wouldn't be no time at all that a snapping turtle would show up and make a home.

Worth

Heh. One of the problems is that people have been sold a concept that piling rocks on the bottom of ponds is good stuff. It works for a time, people get crystal clear water. Then the muck starts building up. Its impossible to clean easily because its between the stones. Few years into it when the fish start getting ulcers the experts will recommend big dolllars for a total clean out. Lather rinse repeat. My pond has a bottom drain that I can flush out once a month gathering the water and the goo for the compost pile. Koi are really dirty fish so the stuff if not cleaned out can pile up fast and if you combine it with rotten leaves and decaying food, the stink--yeah it can make the eyes water.

Stacy

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by bughunter99

Heh. One of the problems is that people have been sold a concept that piling rocks on the bottom of ponds is good stuff. It works for a time, people get crystal clear water. Then the muck starts building up. Its impossible to clean easily because its between the stones. Few years into it when the fish start getting ulcers the experts will recommend big dolllars for a total clean out. Lather rinse repeat. My pond has a bottom drain that I can flush out once a month gathering the water and the goo for the compost pile. Koi are really dirty fish so the stuff if not cleaned out can pile up fast and if you combine it with rotten leaves and decaying food, the stink--yeah it can make the eyes water.

Stacy

Looks nice at the water garden show room.
If they were honest they would tell the customer, "Look folks this pond requires maintenance it can be a pain in the rear to keep clean".

What I want to do with my back yard would cost some money even if I did it.

But the back of my place is on a slope going two ways down and to the left.
There is a natural gully there with a bridge on it already.

Like you said I would put a drain on it so it can be cleaned and also have a recirculation pump pumping water back to the top and going over several falls back to the pond area.
There would be a dam at the end with the water flowing over it into a shallow area with water cleaning plants in it.
This is where to pump would pick up the water to send back to the top.

If I were to have fish in it they would be catfish.
Not to eat I just like catfish.

Worth

[bughunter99]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Looks nice at the water garden show room.
If they were honest they would tell the customer, "Look folks this pond requires maintenance it can be a pain in the rear to keep clean".

What I want to do with my back yard would cost some money even if I did it.

But the back of my place is on a slope going two ways down and to the left.
There is a natural gully there with a bridge on it already.

Like you said I would put a drain on it so it can be cleaned and also have a recirculation pump pumping water back to the top and going over several falls back to the pond area.
There would be a dam at the end with the water flowing over it into a shallow area with water cleaning plants in it.
This is where to pump would pick up the water to send back to the top.

If I were to have fish in it they would be catfish.
Not to eat I just like catfish.

Worth

Its a total scam in this area. The folks that have not done their research get hit with not only the build price but again with the cleaning prices.

Your plan sounds nice! That should be your summer project with pictures!

Mine is 23' x13' by 3.5'. It was supposed to be much smaller but I kept tweaking the shape and it grew and grew- gave my husband quite the , er surprise when he got home and saw how productive I had been, lol. Man should know by know that I can do some serious damage with tools! He thought I would give up after puddle size--nope!

I was a little nervous about cutting the hole in the liner to put in the bottom drain but it was the best thing I did. Not only can I flush it whenever I want, when we have our ginormous rains I can run out and dump massive amounts via a 4" knife valve and never have an overflow issue. Mine has 4 butterfly koi in it and some frogs and ducks that visit. Crazy koi follow us around like dogs when we are out there. If I go in with waders they come right up to me wanting watermelon-their favorite treat. My water is recirculated through skimmer basket then a bog filter where I grow watercress, waterchestnuts and water celery. Plus some pretties. It works great! And the best thing is I can ignore the whole set up for weeks and it does just fine. Just need to dump the skimmer basket after windstorms.

Stacy