When my brother and I were children, there were two large ponds on our farm in early spring after winter break up. These ponds were located on each side of the barn and together they would total about two and a half hectares. By June the ponds dried to seven small ponds. First we heard frogs. When the weather warmed, the toads trilled and after a rainstorm tree frogs called from the trees. We saw many tadpoles sprout legs and turn into toads and frogs.
In 1958 my brother and I took over running the farm. At that time farmers were encouraged to produce more to feed the world. So we removed most of the treed fencerows and applied for an agricultural engineer to blueprint drains. Thus we drained the ponds. Amphibians would breed in the ditch. Right? Wrong. About the only thing to breed there were hordes of mosquitoes. When we decided to retire we asked a neighbor to share crop the land. We hired a friend to clean the drains and construct a shallow frog pond. While we were contemplating construction of the pond, Ken Hunter and Mark Emery suggested we consider a patch of prairie.
That fall (2001) we chose a low spot in the corner of the field bordering a neighbor's woodlot to the west and our woods to the north. Thus the pond is well sheltered, allowing a quick warmup in early spring mornings.
We asked the contractor to use his bulldozer to make a bowl shaped hollow no more than three and a half feet at its deepest spot with a gentle slope to the edge. Some of the earth was used to raise the driveway by the woods. The rest of the earth was thinly spread in the field around the pond. We then worked the land around the pond with a disc harrow. After that we used a land leveler and then a cultipacker to crush the clods. The pond is fed by two shallow field drains, and has an overflow to keep water from backing into the field.
We measured the required acre that fall (2001). The following spring the area was sprayed with roundup as requested by Mark Emery. When it was time to plant, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources employees were on strike. By the time the strike was settled, the ground was dry and hard. The small no till drill pulled by an ATV hardly scratched the surface.
At the time I had asked for just grass seed, but after the grass was planted, Mark persuaded me to have them plant some wild flower seeds.
A list of seeds supplied by Don Hector includes the following: Canada Wild Rye, Big Blue Stem, Indian Grass, Yarrow, Whorled Milkweed, Heath Aster, New England Aster, Tall Coreopsis, Boneset, Sweet Ox-eye, Wild Bergamot, Smooth Beard tongue, Hairy Beardtongue, Virginia Mountain Mint, Gray-headed Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, Gray Goldenrod, Ohio Goldenrod, Ridell's Goldenrod, Stiff Goldenrod, Blue Vervain, Culver's Root, Cylindrical Blazing Star, and Joe-Pye Weed.
Species not listed but identified as growing in the prairie are Little Blue Stem, Compass Plant, Prairie Dock, Tall Sunflower, Partridge Pea, Blue-eyed Grass, Butterfly Weed, Swamp Milkweed, Ironweed, Showy Tick Trefoil and Round-headed Bush Clover.
Late that fall, a few patches of grasses had emerged. In late May of the following spring (2002), rows of spindly grass and some of the wild flowers had germinated. To our farmers' eyes, it looked like a disaster. We were surprised when we were told it was quite good. We were advised to mow the weeds to reduce competition. After inspecting the prairie and noticing the relatively low number of weeds, we spudded them out with a dandelion spud. By doing so the weeds would not regrow and deprive the prairie plants of moisture and nutrients.
In the summer of 2003, we were advised to spot spray the dandelions that appeared to be crowding the prairie. In our opinion it would have done more harm than good. So we left it to Mother Nature.
In the year 2004, the dandelions are not a problem on the prairie, the grass is improving and many of the wild flowers have bloomed.
The pond has exceeded our expectations. Spike Rush carpets the bank and the shallows. Water Plantain, Soft Stem Bulrush, False Loosestrife, a type of watercress and a sedum like plant grow along the edge of the pond and a pondweed grows in deeper water. The prairie pond complex has produced two nesting pairs of Indigo Buntings, two nesting pairs of Song Sparrows and one Field Sparrow. A Wood Duck hatched all her eggs and two different broods of Mallard ducklings were seen.
The pond produced abundant tadpoles that turned into toads and three species of frogs. Several species of both dragonflies and damselflies fledged from the pond. Deer, squirrels and other animals and birds come to drink at the pond. A Red-tailed Hawk often waits for lunch in a nearby tree.
In September while walking in the prairie after a rain, I found swarms of migrating dragonflies resting on the tall grasses. It is a pleasure to watch the dragonflies dancing and hovering, their wings shimmering in the bright sunlight, and to see kingbirds and swallows catching insects above the pond. Occasionally a heron or Great Egret can be seen wading in the pond.