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35 Comments
How about hugelmounds for all these trees you cut down? At least for a few of those piles… Also, I noticed the way a few of those logs fell, they are perfect for a bench or spot to sit and lean back on.. a little bit of chain saw work will do the trick..
As for that leak you have, I agree with you, that tree should be removed along with the roots… Load/replace with large rocks and spread a few sand bags in between.. should seal the deal..
That looks like a great future orchard area! For the pond, your analysis of tree roots being the problem, perhaps? It's important to use only subsoil, on top of un-dug, existing subsoil to edge a pond. Meaning that the top soil needs to be removed all around first (placing it aside for planting beds). When that's done then you can excavate and pack down the pond edge with subsoil only (often consisting of mostly clay), firming it into place with the machine. Leaving the trees here probably meant raising the ground within their drip line more than four inches? Which in itself may well prove fatal for the remaining pond edge trees over time, as tree roots need access to air, and do not do well with machine compaction over their root balls, from my observation over the years. Joel Ashton of "Wild your garden" Youtube from UK, is a great source of information on making ponds without using plastic or rubber liners too.
Looking forward to hearing how your bentonite clay works. I have a leaking dam myself and was just about to commit to hauling in lots of bags of the bentonite. Hope it works for you!!
I've built a pond by hand like you. And have the same problem. You could put ducks in the pond in the spring. Duck poop can seal a pond overtime but it has not worked yet for mine completely I have seen improvement. But I also have a tree kinda In my burm and that is where my leaking is coming from. I've since cut the tree down and tried to kill the stump so in time as the roots of the stump start to die dirt can replace those spots where roots use to be. Other than that it's major digging to remove all roots to the stump. Hope that clay works for you
Get duck poop for the pond
I enjoy your updates!
Possibly the tree right at the leak looks like the culprit.
Excited to see your progress adding wire to the perimeter fencing. I assume you will try to incorporate some planting into this new 'trellis' system?
I copied your brush wall around the perimeter of my property, so may be time to upgrade along with you.
You could setup a self priming automatic siphon .. like the 'bell siphon' .. when water level in pond reaches a certain height , the surplus/extra automatically gets siphoned down to somewhere else.
Can't wait for the Eric visit, love what he does, love what you do! 💚
Lots of leaves would help plug up the leak
Gotcha — those tree roots act as micro-channels for gravity seepage.
Be careful – water is very erosive – may develop a void that could fail suddenly and blow out the pond volume in one flow event (dambusters!) like you said.
Do a season or two of ducks and they will gley the pond up for you
I believe the tree needs to be killed off and the burm compacted with more material.
The water is likely using the roots as a guide, and im concerned for the kind of damage the freeze thaw cycle will do, and quickly.
Sometimes caution is the better side of valor.
Id be tempted to install a PVC overflow to lower the water level without eroding the bank in the meantime
Love what you guys are doing!
looks like the water is following the root system of that tree.
@Edible Acres
https://youtu.be/MeNjGeXtvqc
BamaBass had the same problem. See his fixing a leak vid if link fails.
If the tree in the herm doesn’t suffer too much from having it trunk burried, i don’t see why cut it. The width or the berm is 8 sufficient in my opinion on that side.
The cheapest expanded clay where I live is natural kitty litter.
Tree roots shouldn't be a problem if you have enough clay. You could take advantage of the leak, with the brush you've just cut down with trees. Create a self watering hugel bed on contour, just down slope from the berm. If you're going to lose the water anyway – until you fix the leak, you might as well get some food production out of it. Let that water, really soak into the waste wood and brush, instead of just down the hill.
Maybe the hugel bed could be a temporary nursery for trees, or strawberries, tomatoes, goji berries, etc. If you're going to be losing that water, I'd be putting it to use! Turn it into cash from your nursery (next season) then reimburse any money you've spent fixing the pond.
I also agree with others, put electric poultry fencing and ducks in there. Even better is pigs. As they wallow when the pond level drops over the season, their weight and hocks work the clay and manure into any leaks. I don't know if you'd want to process animals afterwards though. Or trade them with someone who can, for a portion they set aside for you.
If its leaking through the berm you could try compacting it with dead weight, perhaps double stacked ibc's or lots of sandbags or something. Notable its the root zone of that large tree.
If you have a rootslayer spade (Rootslayer XL is literally my favorite shovel)… It makes for a good de-barker. A decent pressure washer will also debark quite well but makes a big mess.
Have you thought about using pigs to seal the pond?
I have a feeling that the tree on your pond berm is going to have to go. As long as you have growing roots in the berm, I suspect that any plugging efforts will only be short term
Love what you’re doing with the land and your approach. Some advice for the leaking pond, the bentonite is a swelling clay that won’t stay in place unless it has a confining layer; so I’d suggest next summer placing in the dry then covering with a layer of the other soil few inches thick. Keep watching the seepage for signs of turbidity, if the leak is pulling away fines then there is a bigger concern that should be addressed
Hey Sean. I have had the exact same problem, and can say that even if you seal it, it'll come back. As long as you have tree roots, especially near or on the dam, their roots will look for the water and continue to penetrate causing further leaks.
3-4 cubic yards of clay, silt and sand might do it, sealing that side away from channels. Ie. tons, not bags.
Having a tree in the pond berm is a bad idea. As the wind moves the tree it will work the roots that protrude into the berm. Even with the clay it will eventually open things up again. If it was mine I would cut the tree off a couple of feet up. Make a chair out of it. Don’t try to remove the stump of course. 🙂
do you know any local pig farmers? Let the hogs live in there surrounded by electric for a week or 2 in the hot part of the year. the pigs will also eat raw eggs
I appreciate your mindset here “we have enough food and we are not pressured to hunt (the deer)”
I used 2,000 pounds of bentonite clay to seal the bottom of a pond with no luck. I think it has to be tilled in to be effective. In another pond i used 10 gallons of dammit pond sealer by shalex. It worked. It got pulled into the seepage area and sealed it.
BIG thank you to everyone sharing ideas and suggestions… I've read through and normally I like to respond to every comment when there is time but just haven't had time. Strong encouragement for folks watching this video with similar questions about leaky pond issues to read through the comments, so much gold in here… Some themes…. Pigs and to some extent ducks could be helpful in packing. Most likely the tree near the leak and it's root system is going to only increase total leaking if left. Mixed review to cut/pull stump / redo berm there… I am leaning towards cutting the tree quite low and burying in a bunch of soil and packing, letting it break down in place.
SO many more ideas, thanks again everyone!
Haha those deer look so happy! They're bouncing like my dog
I’d be curious to know the cause of the leak…. Natural lakes and ponds are loaded with surrounding vegetation, so obviously nature can integrate both no problem. Also, if a tree broke the barrier of the pond it would be leaking its own water source. However, it just occurred to me, maybe those type of pines don’t like to be water logged and it is “draining” the pond on purpose… dry pines.
A cup of mint tea ☕️ with your mum. How cool is that 👍