A pond in there somewhere.

[basil]

I recently mentioned that i picked up a 30 acre field for rabbit, roe and fox. And the fact that there is a fenced off pond in the corner of the field. The owner has said i can do what i want with it.
Question is, how would you go about clearing this lot?
(The light green is a grassy type weed on the waters surface)

basil.

 

[Frax]

Looks like a machine job to me. Don't be tempted to go too deep, shallow shelving edges are best.

You won't need much open water mind to attract duck, they'll come into suprisingly small areas, just get feeding!

Feed into shallow water so the rats can't get at it and wait until September for the fun to start! A few trees around the pond is no bad thing, it means they come in high and circle before dropping in. Getting excited just thinking about it.

 

[Nix Niveus]

I'd agree, manual extraction to preserve the quality of the water - rake head on a bit of rope! You need offical permission to use herbicide - SEPA in Scotland, not sure who gives the OK in England/Wales.

 

[Daemo]

The pond

Hiya

Looks like a rake job and blisters to me.

Come duck season you'll get 30 birds a night on there - its really surprising how many frequent small ponds.

As said, some small amount of cover around the edge would help you conceal yourself until they come in to land.

Daemon

 

[tika.308]

and when the ducks do start coming in they will soon start getting through that grass,keep moving the feed around and spread it about well so they have to work for it through the grass to rip it up.

 

[basil]

I'd agree, manual extraction to preserve the quality of the water - rake head on a bit of rope! You need offical permission to use herbicide - SEPA in Scotland, not sure who gives the OK in England/Wales.

I won`t be using any chemicals in the area, just extra back ache and blisters!!
basil.

 

[paul k]

Cracking potential for ducks but keep it fairly shallow at the margins and also leave some cover that you can get under for flighting. We used to half bury plastic bins with good secure lids to store barley in.

 

[Andy L]

I would just get the round-up bioactive out and give it a blast. Will kill o the grass without killing anything alive. You could mechanically remove it but it will be bloody had work.
Still, us fish farmers don't ever like pulling weed out by hand!

 

[enfieldspares]

Duck will not come into it unless they can fly in and fly out. So more important than clearing the pond is clearing the trees to give good aerial access!

Duck will come into very small water and I don't think that feeding will be required. Just throw in a rake head on a rope to take out the top weeds. A strimmer around is also required (unless you have a dog) as otherwise if you shoot a duck you won't ever find it.

Especially so at night. Good rat proof feed is simply old bread rolls thrown onto the water! The ducks can eat it but the rats can't when it sinks!

 

[Paul 600]

If you don't act soon there will be no pond. After the grasses etc shrubs then the trees will take over. Remove the weeds and try to shelve the silt, by hand is going to be fun! Just think of the duck flighting in!

 

[basil]

I`ll be making a start this week, i`ll photograph the progress and update the post periodically. Thanks for all the advise guys.
basil.

 

[BenC]

I would just get the round-up bioactive out and give it a blast. Will kill o the grass without killing anything alive. You could mechanically remove it but it will be bloody had work.
Still, us fish farmers don't ever like pulling weed out by hand!

Agreed, spraying is the way to go if you want to save some effort, roundup has saved me days! Strictly you should get permission from the EA but unless you have all the right spray tests then you'll not get the license. If you decide to spray it regardless, we always recommend that you do about 1/3 at a time, any more than that and the rotting weed will eutrophicate and kill off any pond life as the oxygen levels in the water drop. Might not be such a problem on a pond that's choked as much as that though as there doesn't look much water left for any fish to live in.

 

[Roedinator]

basil ideally you want a 360 slew with one of those attachments
they use on the reens down your way it will just take out most
of the weeds and grass but not too much depth
other than that have a friendly word with mr farmer and
see if you can borrow an old tractor with a bit of rope and
old bit of chain harrow chuck it in and keep dragging it out
youd **** it in a day like that .
if you want a tractor driver one sat give me a call im not
that far away pete .

 

[basil]

basil ideally you want a 360 slew with one of those attachments
they use on the reens down your way it will just take out most
of the weeds and grass but not too much depth
other than that have a friendly word with mr farmer and
see if you can borrow an old tractor with a bit of rope and
old bit of chain harrow chuck it in and keep dragging it out
youd **** it in a day like that .
if you want a tractor driver one sat give me a call im not
that far away pete .

Thanks for your offer Pete.
basil.

 

[Offroad Gary]

the lifeguards chair is a bit overgrown

no heavy petting!

 

[basil]

the lifeguards chair is a bit overgrown

no heavy petting!

 

[basil]

I`ve been advised to be carefull of any newts that may be in the pond as i may lay myself open to prosecution. I haven`t seen any life at all in the pond, not even a frog so how will i know if there`s any newts present? Any ideas?
Thanks. basil.