Natural pond revival

[Jhn]

Thanks brokensword. I will try it hand in hand with the bushwhacker. I might not be patient enough to wait for years though.
I also like the idea of drowning the cattails by covering it with a liner/tarp and putting some weights on top of it. My other problem now is not to disturb the wildlife around so I might do it in phases.

Cant speak for cattails, but putting a weighted tarp over the phragmite will do nothing to it other than kill what is already growing but not the rhizomes, the rhizomes will put runners out to get out from under the tarp Or punch a hole through the tarp. Phragmite grows incredibly quick, and are very tough ( I’ve seen a runner go over a road and start to root on the other side while getting run over by vehicles). Here in Maryland the state will let you burn it, spray it, or dig it out, either Avenue requires permits at least for a contractor to do the work. The only place I deal with them is in tidal wetland areas, and as far as the state govt is concerned as long as you are replacing them with native species of plants they should be all for removing them, be it in wetlands area or not.

You could also speak to a landscaper in the area, find one that is licensed to remove invasive plant species, they will know when and what to spray the phragmite with. Once you get a head of it it just will require you to stay on top of it for awhile to wipe it out completely or it will get out of control again in short order.

 

[GBBUDD]

I have placed 2000 lb wooden mats that we drive on with up to 180000 pound loads and placed them directly on phragmites and have left them for 2 years and within one growing season the shoots covered the whole area again. they may not reach 12 foot tall but its usually full none the less

 

[sissy]

Boy you have a pretty place and love your collie .I can see you have lots of work ahead .Have you considered one of those windmills that aerate the water .I have seen them at several farm ponds around here ,not cheap but seem to work great keeping water clean .The one has his hooked to a pump that has a fountainhead and lights and that looks so pretty

 

[Ducdoc]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Got tired of ice skating today so I put on my waders and jump on the pond. Cleared half of it in 2 hrs with my electric brush cutter and will finish half of it by next weekend. I know the cattails will come back again but if I keep up on top of it, I think I should be able to control it. If not, we’ll rent an excavator to root it out.

 

[addy1]

Keeps you in shape!

 

[Ducdoc]

Keeps you in shape!

Looking now for some Advil

 

[GBBUDD]

Unfortunately most plants when trimmed forces them to spread out instead of growing upward . while 70 % of what you cut was probably dead the 30% that had shoots that were cut will force the plant to grow outward instead of upward . making for new roots and new plants.

 

[GBBUDD]

one thing you could try to more keep it in check could be to take advantage of the ice and TIE a croup of the cat tails together making like a 6" group and tie it really really tight using slip nots so the harder you pull the tighter it gets . then in the spring or if the ice gives way tie the rope to a truck or even a cars frame and see if you can pull out a group one at a time

 

[Ducdoc]

Well hello spring. As the snow melts, pond is starting to clear up. I planted random daffodils and tulip bulbs around the pond. Also got to plant a couple of white birch trees. So glad that they survived winter.

 

[Ducdoc]

Can’t wait to lit up the fire pit and dine al fresco.

 

[Ducdoc]

More help cleaning up the pond with the grandkids. Having fun and cheap labor too

 

[bagsmom]

Love the pictures of the silly dogs "helping!" What fun for your grandkids!

 

[brokensword]

you've done a good cleanup; hate to see you doing it year after year and it'll soon be covered once again, blocking your view. Seriously consider chem intervention. Use the Shor-Klear at the end of summer and BEFORE the cattails start to go dormant. You want the leaves to absorb and pull the chem down into the rhizome. This WILL kill them. It won't completely get them all, hence you'll need to do this yearly until they're gone. But the process is easy; get a backpack sprayer, use the chem making sure you also use a surfactant (for stick-ability) and spraying at the right time, make sure it doesn't get washed off for 24 hours. We used the chem at the higher strength and it worked a lot better. You'll still want to cut everything down but you'll have much less each year. That's the way our HOA battle has gone. Your pond is considerably smaller and you shouldn't have much trouble. Just set a reminder, say the beginning of September or so, and you'll have success.

 

[Ducdoc]

We did try to spray it chemically with my 15 gallon weed sprayer last summer. Result was really slow and not very effective. I’ll be renting an excavator soon to completely pull it out.
For the meantime, I’m just whacking it out with my brush weeder. I’m also using the weed razer and then scoope it out with the rakezilla.

 

[Ducdoc]

Anyone had any experience with this lighted fountain/aerator?