TubeNet

Email Walter, he is the best plant guy on the planet.

http://www.walterreeves.com/

There might even be an answer on the site, I didn't look.

You are right to be concerned about run off. That pretty green color of your water is the sign of your microscopic level life getting the right nutrition. Too much growth, (which comes from too much fertilizer) and you mess up that balance.

Right now, with our lack of rain, you are probably in need of some growth around the boarder. The ground will most likely soak up all of your watering and fertilizer. I would just make sure that you are not in a big rush to see miraculous growth. A little fertilizer over time will get your desired growth without killing the pond.

Tom Mason

The suggestion of calling the groundskeeper at the local golf course is a good one.

Also, you can buy a device that will attach to your soaker hose and feed the fertilizer through the hose at very low concentrations over long periods of time. This should lesson the chances of too much of the fertilizer getting into the pond; which is a very real concern. (Note that the devices are illegal in some areas because of the chance of backflow into the water system.)

I smell the makings of a tubapalooza/fish-fry......

Talk about a hearty grass (or weed), bermuda is a predator! I used to help my neighbor "burn" his yard twice a year. That grass was the thickest I've ever seen in my entire life, and it tried to take over anything and everything.


Good luck! It'll look great, and you are definitely taking the time to watch out for the fish and other animals.



We'd give you some of our rain if we could. This is the first day in 2 weeks we haven't gotten some sort of rain.

bloke wrote: Those were some GREAT trips!

bloke "who NEVER caught ANY fish on ANY of those trips"

Yeah, the town now is quite big. Or big for the area. Where I live (or my legal abode, anyway) is still an untouched wooded area overlooking lake Norfork. Place called "Buzzard Roost". The name was given when they did the emergency 9-11 zoning. They did it to make the area sound quaint, backwoods, and country again. They changed all the names to corny White Trash slogans. Probably because they are slowly destroying the town with multi-million dollar chain restaurants, the largest walmart in north america (at the time of construction), and a bypass around the town.

It has been taken over by retired persons from Chicagoland. That isn't a dog on people from Chicago. It is just very hard to watch your area turn from woods and wildlife--- into beer cans floating in the lake and rivers, four lane highways, and higher crime.

Tiny resorts, like the one you are talking about, are what gave the area that "special feel". Another poster, now a Georgia resident, was a band director in nearby Cotter (trout capital of the world)... and can attest to how far downhill the whole area has gone.

People don't realize, by changing the area, they are changing the reasons why people came in the first place. Other than Gaston's Resort ( http://www.gastons.com ), all the old resorts are drying up and blowing away. People stay in big hotels in downtown Mountain Home.


Wes "sounding really old in the post. never been a good fisherman" Pendergrass

Tom Mason wrote:Too much growth, (which comes from too much fertilizer) and you mess up that balance.

bloke wrote:In other words (using a kid's coloring book analogy)

Try like heck to "color between the lines"...Fertilize the slope and TRY to not allow it to run off...??

Kind of, but not really.

In freshwater systems, Nitrogen is in great abundance naturally. There is ALWAYS an excess of N2 in aquatic systems, and an influx of excessive levels of Nitrogen isn't going to drastically alter the phytoplankton community (or change that "perfect" color green). The limiting reagent in freshwater systems is generally Phosphorus, meaning that if one were to dump an excess of P into a lake, stream, river, or pond, one may get a LARGE algae bloom which would turn your system into one green gooey mess, and potentially suffocate your (spawning) fish. (Conversely, in marine/estuarine systems, it is N2 that is the limiting reagent and excess additions could cause phytoplankton blooms, aka "red tide".)

That said, what is the N : P ratio on the fertilizer you plan on using? If it's close to even, I would try to not let any run into the pond; the phosphorous could cause an algae bloom and negatively impact your fish community.

Out of curiosity, is there a liner in your pond? Is there an inlet/outlet or is it a static pond? How much water are you losing because of the dry/drought conditions? What fish species, what sizes, and in what ratios did you stock into the pond after construction?

This may be a helpful forum for you: http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi

Happy management!

SR

EDIT: After having re-read the original post, why do you think your pond is "nitrogen-sensitive"?

I'd skip the 34-0-0. It will green up your grass very quickly at the expense of root growth. Your situation is tricky. Phosphorus is very good for root growth, but not good for your pond. With the rainfall being so low, you don't want to encourage lots of green growth, it will be too much stress for the grass. I use a mulching lawn mower so I'm not removing nutrients from the area and therefore don't do much in the way of fertilizing. If you "harvest" the grass clippings then you are removing nutrients that need to be replaced. If your mower does "harvest" then I'd try removing the collecting device when mowing the area around the pond and then maybe mow that area twice to break up the large cuttings. I'm not familiar with bermuda grass, but for the grass growing up here way to many people cut their grass too short. This also will stress it

If you do fertilize, I'd try to find something slow release (often the minerals in their natural state) with nothing over 10's. 5-5-5 would be ideal. It may take longer before you see an impact, but I think your situation requires patience.

Or, if your nose can stand it, take your grass clippings and put them in several large garbage cans filling them maybe 1/3 with grass and them fill them up with water and let the mixture rot. After a couple of weeks, use it to water the area around the pond. We did this once as kids. It works, but it does stink!

You could go Natural and spread a 1/4 inch of organic compost on your lawn. It works really well here (NW).

bloke wrote:He and my Mom moved there to "retire" in the early 1980's and were part of the big Cooper Communities bastardization of the Ozarks.

There sure were a bunch of bastardizers there in the 70's. I had a long running gig at Bella Vista Country Club in a 6 piece jazz band. I think the time frame was '73 to '76. They used to fly the marks in from Chicago, wine and dine 'em and sell those building lots. We played a dance every Friday and Saturday night. Nothing but swing. Nice gig. The extra cash was really handy for a new father. I never got to play in the cave. It was closed and in private ownership while I was there.