Hey guys,


I need some good help and advice here. I know I'm going to need to get a permit from the state DNR this spring to do this, but in the meantime I was wondering if you guys could advise me on what to do.

I own two acres in central Minnesota. It's on a small lake (which is actually a landlocked water basin, meaning it's really just the exposed water table with no in or outflow.) There's also a swamp on the property.


The lake's shoreline has this nasty swamp-grass type stuff, as seen here (ignore the beaver house, I don't mind it):


Is there any way I can get rid of the nasty grass without having to use big machinery? What's the most effective way to get rid of it and to have a shoreline that is dirt/sand and not grass and weeds?


Second problem:
The swamp on my property is full of grass too, like super-full of grass. It still has water on it too though, the swamp is small enough that it would make a nice pond if it were dug out. Is there any way I can "fix" this swamp up into a pond?


^ Picture of the swamp, there is some water in there believe it or not!


May I also mention that I would like to do this as environmentally and financially effective as possible. I don't want to use big Caterpillar type equipment, because I have VERY little land to work with (only 2 acres) and all of it is fully wooded (par from the swamp) so I don't want to have to clear some big huge path in there for a one-time dig-out with a bulldozer.

Even if it takes me five times as long to "fix up" the shoreline/swamp without the use of a big destructive bulldozer, I'd rather do it that way because I want to keep my acreage as in-tact as possible without having to clear a big bulldozer path through it that would take many decades to regrow.

Can you guys offer any advice on what I should do with the grassy shoreline and with the overgrown swamp?


Thanks in advance!