Hello everyone! I live in Florida and we just moved into a house that has a pond out front. It doesn’t have any liner in it. It has an overgrowth and we can’t seem to figure out how to clear this stuff out. We have been raking out the stuff we can reach but there’s so much that we just can’t get out. Any advice would be great!
New to the forum, need advice on how to clear up.
- Thread starter Kyky9797
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Mmathis
TurtleMommy
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Hello and welcome. Hopefully you will get some good advice. How big is the pond?
Hello, it’s pretty dried up right now but it’s about 30ft when it’s full
Are there fish in the pond? Manual removal may be the best option, but you may find that you need professional help. We hire a company to clear out the natural ponds in our subdivision about every other year. They have the mechanical means to make this a quick and easy job. Or... you just keep raking!
There’s no fish besides minnows and some turtles. But there are two water moccasins that’s we’ve seen so that’s why we haven’t gone all the way in yet.
j.w
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Oh, man. Be careful.
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Welcome!
I would not be happy seeing water moccasins!
I would not be happy seeing water moccasins!
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just looked this snake up as had no idea about what it even was....posted a link that seems reliable.....
Welcome Kyky9797
Welcome Kyky9797
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Yep, be careful. Water moccasin aka cotton mouth.
We don't have them here in Pennsylvania, but we do have timber rattlers and copperheads.
I've seen timber rattlers at a nearby lake, but luckily I've only seen garder snakes around our house, but you never know...
We don't have them here in Pennsylvania, but we do have timber rattlers and copperheads.
I've seen timber rattlers at a nearby lake, but luckily I've only seen garder snakes around our house, but you never know...
Your pond is more of a vernal pool. there's clearly no water source like a stream or a spring. But it apparently has just grasses growing in it. Was it man made? That's more work then i would want to fight by hand. I'd get a mini excavator and scrape out the bottom removing even the roots. There are herbicides that may do the job but that's outside my knowledge.
Another possibility is a Chinese grass carp They devour grass so much so they will eat out the roots along the bank of the pond where that may become the next issue.
Another possibility is a Chinese grass carp They devour grass so much so they will eat out the roots along the bank of the pond where that may become the next issue.
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When I dug my pond, I rented a mini backhoe called a Terramite. It had a flat blade on one end and a backhoe on the other. It worked great and cost me $300 for the weekend. It would have been less if I had a big enough trailer to pick it up, instead, they delivered it.
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That's a big pond. I'd suggest hiring a pro to clean it out so you can start anew. I'm new to FL, and the first pond advice I got was, "Assume any body of water has snakes and maybe an alligator in it, so be careful". So far, no gator.