Help with water lily pond?

[MunchMeister]

Welcome! I agree with what they all have said about the need to remove all the muck. I struggled with the same thing when I inherited my pond. For 3 years I tried just pulling the weeds since mucking out the pond was going to be a huge job but every year the reeds and weeds came back stronger than before. It wasn't until I pulled the muck that I realized that most of the weeds had formed an almost carpet layer of roots UNDER all the muck. So while it's going to be a big job, getting it all out and starting fresh will be much less work for maintenance further down the road.
Good luck!

I checked and pulled one corner of the pond's rectangle plant-mat up: it's about 1/2 a foot of old root system under the muddy stuff (quite hard to tear up). I managed to grab out some of the mud and roots. I was more careful around the side with more lilies, because I wasn't sure what was alive or dead roots from tubers. On the grassy side, since there were few lilies I just started tearing at it and broke up one corner

One odd thing is that there's two large "masses" of tubers from the lilies. They're probably connected to the mat underneath, but they're up at the surface, tight and won't budge. Is it normal for the tubers to exist at surface, or do they belong underwater?

Since the far side with mostly reeds/grass and few lilies is the thickest, do you think we should just remove that side entirely? Like cut it off? Not sure how we'll manage that, but removing like a third of the matted roots/mud might help for the other sides.

Thanks guys! We'll keep up the work on the pond and greenhouse!

 

[addy1]

Tubers belong underwater, but if there is a massive mat of muck they will grow where ever they can. I would not worry about living or not living roots. I have planted lilies with roots that are only an inch in size and they have grown. Yank the mat of muck out, pull out the best looking largest lilies save them in a bucket of water until you get the pond cleaned out.

Get a nice sharp serrated knife, large, when you pull the mat up use it to cut off manageable pieces, cut and toss. Stay far away from the liner ....................lol

 

[HARO]

In the past, I've used a machette to reduce the mass of roots to a manageable size. (Not my pond.) Just don't do it IN the pond! Your lillies will survive... you can't kill those things!
John

 

[j.w]

Johnny Haro took an axe and gave his lilies 40 whacks,


When he saw what he had done,
he gave the extra's to his hon

 

[HARO]

I think you're confusing me with Waterlizzy Borden!
Johnny

 

[Lisaebetten]

Don't be afraid of being to rough on the plant, it will grow back just fine. You can then study how long and how fast it grows. You could take a chain saw, well you may have to take a hack saw to the roots and you will have more then what you need. Give them away for Christmas and Birthday's, or compost them.