Aquacide Blog

Preventing Lake Weed Problems Southern Ponds & Wildlife Vol. 3 #1 (Winter 2004) Don C. Keller   Every spring during the months of April and May, I get hundreds of calls from pond owners who seem to be overwhelmed with vegetation problems.  They usually state that they began fertilizing in March and had difficulty establishing a desirable plankton bloom (green color).  What they fail to say is that there was some vegetation in the pond when they began fertilizing.  The reason they couldn’t get a bloom was because the vegetation was sucking up the fertilizer. All vegetation responds to fertilizer,...

WEED CONTROL, 4 GOOD OPTIONS FOR BUR REED Bur Reed, sparganium, is a flowering perennial weed that grows in the shallows of marshes, ponds and streams.  There are 9 different species of Bur Reed in the United States. Bur Reed has long, narrow alternating leaves that may be floating or emersed, erect or limp.  It spreads from detached rhizomes and seed from spherical flower heads.  Seed survival is not high. Bur Reed does provide both food and habitat for nesting wildlife. 4 good options for control: Chemical control: Endothall is a fast-acting contact option best applied early summer when submersed...

Water Plantain (alisma) is a perennial herb, native to Eurasia and North Africa, now present world-wide. Water Plantain grows in shallow marshy soil along the shoreline.  It has stiff lance-shaped leaves 5-8” long that stand above the water surface.  Emersed leaves have prominent parallel veins.  Submersed leaves are smaller and ribbon-like with less defined veins.  Water Plantain has small white 3-petaled flowers which whorl around a delicate stalk that open in the morning from June through August. Water Plantain reproduces from seed and division of corms (a fleshy bulb-like underground stem). Water Plantain is a food source for most waterfowl...

Water Buttercup, Water Crowfoot (ranunculus aquatilis), is one perennial weed in the Buttercup family that has 360 different species.  It can be found world-wide in the quiet waters of ponds, in ditches and along the shoreline of lakes and slow moving streams. Water Buttercup is eaten by a variety of waterfowl and fish.  It also provides habitat for aquatic insects. It has 2 distinct types of leaves.  Submersed leaves are alternately attached, fan-shaped with fine thread-like leaves that collapse when removed from the water.  Floating leaves, when present, are flat and have 3-5 scalloped lobes. It has a single flower...