New to pond life!

Hi....we bought a home with two natural ponds in the front that sits on lakefront. Beautiful property but maintenance we were not expecting lol. We have two drain ditches on both sides of the property that we would like to install privacy fencing. Due to the soggy ground next to the drainage ditches which is very close to the ponds, we are having a hard time how to install fencing.

Is soggy ground normal? We typically almost sink in the grass. Seems to be constant sinking. Hot summer days and long cold winter days....sink.

Also, the front of the ponds has a bankment area in which the ground is slowly sinking. Unfortunately I am afraid it will eventually sink my driveway to get to the house. Otherwise I would continue to let nature take its course. But I need my driveway to get to my house. Help! Any ideas?

Plants? French drain? More dirt?

Thank you!

Hi Terri,
Welcome to Permies!
What a beautiful place you have there. It really looks lovely. You don't say where you are or what your soil type is like, but yes some soils are soft when wet!
Had you considered putting shrubs or trees as a privacy screen rather than fencing? There are quite a few shrubs that don't mind wet feet so would grow happily in wet ground so might be easier to install. Wooden posts are likely to rot and need replacing in a few years, whereas plants are self healing!
As to the bankment sinking your drive, you may need a survey done. It depends on so many factors, how long the drive has been there, how deep the baserock is, how the driveway has been made etc.
Hopefully we can get some more suggestions for you.
I'll add this to homesteads and fencing which may help.

Taking a few more pictures and writing down lots of observations as you walk your land may help pinpoint what exactly is happening.  There's always a ton to learn, even from a photo...

Based off your beautiful pictures and description, I assume you are somewhere subtropical (looks like a palm tree in the back) with plenty of rain (cumulus clouds...two ponds...lake).  It also looks pretty flat, and you mentioned drainage ditches, so drainage in general is likely lacking.  

I assume the water is coming in from a few places:

Top down as rain

Bottom up via rising water table

Slant-ways as runoff

Novice observations from the first photo:
--It looks like the right side of the driveway is darker than the left side -- Wetter perhaps.  Perhaps the road should be draining more in the opposite direction, so as not to fill up the pond more?
--It also looks like some straight lines in the grass run parallel to the driveway on either side -- Compacted soil from the lawn mower, perhaps, or mowing too short and too often in the same place?  
--It also looks like the ponds' edges are a light tan color, with some green in the pond water itself -- Sandy from erosion, green from lawn clippings or nitrogen buildup from runoff, perhaps.  Or perhaps the grey/tan color represents an anaerobic soil condition?

So one (very novice) guess is that your driveway might be contributing significantly to runoff towards the pond, and flowing over compacted soil, gradually eroding the soil and shallowing the pond's edge.  This is just a guess, and it doesn't address the drainage from the pond itself.  Every system has input, processing/storage, and output.  Perhaps significant silt and organic matter has accumulated in the two ponds' drainage ditches downstream, limiting "output" or out flow, while organic matter and silt has limited pond storage.  

Things that might help...maybe:
1. Consider mowing less often to build up deeper roots and more grass transpiration, mulching the clippings in place.
2. Consider adding more water loving/erosion stopping plants along the ponds edge.  Perhaps a willow tree or two even would "pump" or transpire more water out of the soil.
3. Develop a deeper understanding of water on your site as a "flow system".  
--Where is the water coming from?
--How is it being directed, stored / percolated?
--Where is the ideal place for it to flow safely downhill to the lake? Compare that to where is it actually flowing?  Fix and deepen drainage system accordingly.
4. Build organic matter and have fun with new plants!  I second Nancy's recommendation of privacy plants, but just make sure that they don't slow down the drainage with gradual organic matter accumulation in the ditches themselves.
5. Dredging the pond, perhaps, to remove silt and increase storage?