Aquatic Weeds: Chop Em, Haul Em, Spray Em!
“Chop Em, Haul Em, Spray Em!” This sounds a lot like my hashbrown order at Waffle House. Approaching an aquatic weed/aquatic vegetation issue, including filamentous algae can be tricky. There are a lot of different species and a lot of different responses to the approach that you take. Sometimes leaving a small amount behind can be acceptable, but sometimes complete eradication is the answer for species that will regrow fast and take over a pond or lake. There are three categories of controlling aquatic vegetation and Louisiana Pond Management employs all three. This will be a three part blog series on approaching issues with pond weeds and algae. Stay tuned!
Part 1:
Mechanical Solutions for Aquatic Vegetation
So when do you want to use mechanical removal for helping to get rid of a problem with aquatic vegetation? It is determined by the volume of vegetation that is in the pond and whether killing it and allowing it to go to the bottom of a pond would be detrimental. This decaying vegetation consumes oxygen as it degrades and also builds a volume of sludge that provides nutrients and a growing medium for other vegetation, as well as robbing your pond of water volume over time. Mechanically removing this prior to finishing it off with a herbicide application can be a great approach. For instance if you had a large raft of water hyacinth and you have access to get a machine in the pond to remove it, that would be a candidate for mechanical removal simply because hyacinth has a large volume of fibrous material that if treated with herbicide alone would make a large amount of compost sinking to the bottom of the pond. This results in a degradation of water quality and habitat, and it also would possibly leave seeds behind that would sprout the next year. It would certainly leave a lot of organic material in the bottom of the pond that might provide a good seedbed for other aquatic vegetation if the hyacinth didn’t specifically return.
That said, sometimes treating it with herbicide is still the best choice. If you choose physical removal by hand it is simply a physical job that is best left to small areas of maintenance like an access point or a problematic corner.
Louisiana Pond Management has over 35 years of collective experience treating ponds for aquatic vegetation. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you want to improve your pond or lake.
(225) 308-4145 or info@louisianapondmanagement.com
