Miss Nita had a pond that stopped holding water years ago. The property around it had disappeared under years of debris, tree piles pushed aside and forgotten, rotting wood, and accumulated junk that had nowhere to go. The slope between her cabin and the pond had gotten so steep she didn’t bother going down there anymore.
We excavated the pond and lined it with compacted clay so it holds water again. We loaded up and hauled 450 yards of tree piles and debris to the back of the property for burning, and regraded the slope so she can walk down to her pond without grabbing onto something. The property went from abandoned to usable.
Miss Nita’s pond had filled in over the years. Buried trees sat at the bottom, and without proper clay lining, water seeped out faster than it collected.
The pond was decoration at best – it didn’t function. The land around it was worse. Tree piles had been pushed to the edges of the property and left to rot. Debris had accumulated over the years with nowhere to go.
She wanted three things: a pond that actually holds water, a property she isn’t embarrassed to look at, and a way to get down to the pond without worrying about falling. She also had specific trees she wanted us to leave alone.
She showed us which trees to keep, where the debris was piled, and what she wanted the property to look like when we finished.
We cleared brush and took down trees, but worked carefully around the ones Miss Nita had marked. Those stayed untouched. Everything else got pushed to the burn area.
The old pond was full of buried trees—some had been there so long they were half-decomposed. We dug them out, cleaned the basin down to solid ground, and shaped the bottom and sides for proper water retention.
We sourced good clay from on-site, pushed it into the basin in 6-inch layers, and compacted each layer with a compactor before adding the next. Layer by layer until the bottom and sides were sealed tight. This is what makes the pond actually hold water instead of draining into the ground.
450 yards of old tree piles and accumulated debris. We loaded it up and hauled it to the back of the property for burning over several days. Multiple trips, multiple burns, until the property was clear.
The slope from the cabin to the pond wasn't in the original plan—but we saw it during the walkthrough. Too steep for comfortable walking, especially for someone who wants to check on their pond regularly. We cut it back and regraded it to a gentle slope she can walk without thinking about it.
The property had been neglected for years — tree piles and debris accumulating with no plan to deal with them. Tree piles and debris had been accumulating and pushed to the edges. Some of it was buried. Some of it was scattered across the property in piles that had become part of the landscape.
We treated it like a reset. Everything that wasn’t a tree Miss Nita wanted to keep came out. The debris, the forgotten piles – all of it loaded, hauled, and burned.
— Miss Nita, Northern Oklahoma
Before we moved any dirt, we walked the property with Miss Nita. She showed us which trees to keep, where the old greenhouse debris was piled, and what she wanted the property to look like when we finished.
— Miss Nita, Northern Oklahoma
We provide pond construction services throughout Northern Oklahoma, including:
If you've got a pond that won't hold water, land buried under years of debris, or a property that needs serious work before anyone can use it—we'll walk it with you and figure out what it takes.
