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joeschmoe80

clean up pond (loosestrife, cattail)

joeschmoe80
9 years ago

I have a small natural pond and adjacent swamp/wetland on my property. Right now, it's choked up mostly with cattail and loosestrife, and not much else.

Question 1 - what can I do to get rid of that? I've heard of Rodeo, which is basically an acquatic Roundup/glyphosphate product. I realize it breaks down in SOIL, making replanting safe, but what about the water? Will the pond water itself continue to kill plants I plant after the loosestrife and cattail are gone?

Question 2 - Do you have any suggestions on good ways to clean up and landscape the shoreline but leaving the natural water flow as intact as possible (so no liners or anything like that)? I want to plant with the pond and swamp in mind and use suitable plants, but want to "clean up" the appearance somewhat.

Comments (3)

  • dbarron
    9 years ago

    One word...ducks.

    When I was a child, I had a small flock of mallard ducks (6 I think)....they started going to a neighbors pond which was choked with water lotus and cattail, with the occassional small black willow.

    You wouldn't believe how clean the pond was in three months that spring, as far as vegetation goes.

    See if you can "rent" ducks from a neighbor or something, since they'd do a number on the plants you want to plant later. But, darn if that isn't the most organic and labor free method of clearing the pond (lol). I have a feeling geese would do as well, but don't know.

  • pixie_lou
    9 years ago

    I have a 5k sf skating pond in my backyard that is fed and drained into a steam further back. Bought the place in January with visions of ice skates and hot chocolate. Moved in in May to a virtual swamp and mosquito breeding ground.

    You need to be careful with your herbicides and algaecides - since you don't want to harm the fish, birds, turtles, frogs, etc.

    For shoreline control (cat tails, purple loosestrife) I've had excellent luck with a glyphosate product. I've used the name brand AquaPro mixed with Cide-Kick. Cide-Kick is a wetting agent that helps the plant absorption the AquaPro more quickly.

    The product doesn't remain in the water - additional weeds will continue to grow. IME - 2 years of diligent weed control and my pond was cleaned up. I also had a horrible infestation of water meal. And some severe algae problems. It still gets pretty weedy on my pond shores, but now it's the weeds that infest my other gardens - golden rod, jewel weed, pokeweed. Occasionally I see some purple loosestrife (there is a huge infestation about 1/2 mile upstream). But I just hand pull.

    I have mallards visit. But I haven't noticed any reduction in weeds. In fact, I think the mallards are the ones who brought the water meal to my pond. And you really don't want ducks crapping in your yard.

    As for landscaping - I've used day lilies and Siberian iris and gooseneck loosestrife. You need plants that don't mind wet feet. I've also used some river birch, pussy willows and forsythia. It's a total work in progress. But I'm also dealing with about 6k sf of space between the pond and the stream. Plus the perimeter of the pond. So it will always be a work in progress.

    I've found the web site lakelawnandpond.com to be helpful. It is the web site of a commercial company that sells herbicides and algaecides. But I've found it to be a wonderful resource for weed id. And one of the few companies catering to large natural backyard ponds - as opposed to cute little backyard koi ponds.

  • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
    9 years ago

    One relatively easy type of planting would be native wetland shrubs. Around me that might include winterberry holly(Ilex verticillata) which needs at least one male per several females for berries, Clethra, buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), swamp azalea (Rhododendron viscosum), and arborvitae (Thuja occidentals). However I have different soils, so much of this would not work for you. Check wih local nature centers or arboretums or the OH Dept of Natural Resources.