Chris wrote in message
We have a pond about 80 feet long by 25 feet wide. Fed by rainwater
run-off
from the fields above it and probably excavated between four and five
hundred years ago as a water supply (and fish source?) for our house, it
was
in a bad way when we moved in - totally masked from sunlight by trees and
bushes. We've cleared all that away, but the bottom is thick with leaves
and
sludge. We are putting in oxygenating plants, etc, though it would be
prohibitively expensive to plant enough in one go to conquer the damage of
years. We don't intend to keep fish in it (unlike its builders) but would
love to see frogs (no spawn this season) and newts as soon as possible.
Mallard ducks and Moorhens have already visited often, but the stench of
ammonia and methane when raking out debris from the margins isn't
pleasant.

Does anyone have any suggestions to accelerate the process of restoration?


You could have a serious problem with all the decomposing material at the
bottom of the pond causing toxic gasses.
All ponds try to fill themselves in and steps have to be taken every so
often to clear out debris to stop this happening if you want the pond to
continue, it's another reason why we have lost so many old ponds in this
country since WW2. Too costly to maintain.
Two choices, either drain, clear out mechanically and refill as it would
have been done in the past or there is a modern system to clean out ponds
which uses a small dredger that pumps the sludge out of the pond but I don't
know the name of the firm.

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.