Build Your Own Backyard Swimming Hole

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It's a good idea to hang a life ring near the water and occasionally practice tossing it to a swimmer. Even if its never needed, it shows you're serious about safety. As I mentioned before, a shallow bathing area marked by a floating rope will keep youngsters in safe waters, where you can keep track of them Most anxious moments with my daughters have been at a crowded public beach where it can he hard to tell one kid from another—not a bad argument for building your own pond.

Piped spillways or outlets should be covered with a trash guard to keep kids out. Screening devices will also stop wayward beach balls from plugging pipes. It doesn't take long for a blocked overflow to back up, leading to a flooded pond.

You may also want to consider fencing around the pond so that kids—yours and your neighbors—don't visit without permission. Check with your insurance agent and town officials to make sure a pond doesn't qualify as an "attractive nuisance," which could make you liable for injuries to visitors, invited or not. Having said that, I should add that I don't recall ever seeing a pond fenced to keep out anything but cows or sheep.

Water quality can sometimes be a problem, especially in older ponds or ponds in watersheds of questionable purity. I got the worst earache of my life after swimming in a Maryland harm pond contaminated by runoff from a cow corral. If you have any concerns about water quality, have the water tested for coliform bacteria. I wouldn't recommend sharing a small swimming pond with geese or ducks. They can tie the source of swimmer's itch, an irritating skin condition. A pond full of leeches is not particularly inviting either. unless you believe in the therapeutic effects of being bled. I've seen everything from chemicals to beefsteak traps used to eliminate leeches, but nothing is as effective as crawfish. FN e got crawfish in my pond, and we're not only leech-free, but the crawfish also chew up unwanted algae.

Standing in the wading area, I occasionally feel a crawfish rubble on my toes, but it soon moves along. The way I see it, its pan of the adventure of owning a backyard swimming hole.

10 Ways to Boost Your

Land Value... Without building on it
By Jean Vernon

Each piece of land is unique, and there are almost as many ways to improve the value of land as there are parcels of land and willing land owners. However, there are some universally acknowledged tried-and-true methods of improving land values. Every person who owns country property will find several of these things within their ability, and improving your land provides a great source of personal satisfaction.

1 Appreciation. This is the single most important way for land to gain in value. The best part is that it works automatically, unless some negative factor affects the land. For this method to work to its full potential, it must be considered even before the land is purchased. Care should be taken when evaluating the location of the property. Is it within reasonable driving distance to jobs and shopping areas? Is the growth pattern of the area likely to extend towards the land? Is it in an area of good job growth and prosperity, or is it in a region that is losing jobs? Lack of available work will affect real estate values in a negative fashion. Sometimes, it greatly depreciates land value.

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