Pond Maintenance Question

[Paul Franklin]

My new homestead has a pond. I'd guess about a quarter acre and 5-6 feet deep in the center. I'm educating myself about maintenance but am looking for wisdom from any experienced pond owners our there.

It has a fountain aerator, and at least at the end of last year did not appear to have any major algae issues. There were a few areas of green glop, but most of the surface was clear. It's home to the usual frogs, turtles, some fish, a mallard couple, and is visited by the occasional Great Blue Heron (which is awesome!)

I'm in NE Ohio. My specific question has to do with the cattails that line part of the bank. It appears the stalks have died off over the winter, and I wonder if it's best to cut them off at the waterline before the new growth sprouts up. My thinking is this will avoid adding a bunch of organic matter to the pond that might contribute to algae.

I'd appreciate your thoughts and any other advice on pond maintenance.

Paul Franklin [e-mail] (you know what to leave out)

[Steve B]

Check with local universities and agriculture department services. Many times they have free programs to help you do just such a thing.

Steve

[HeyBub]

Think duck shit, turtle shit, heron shit, fish shit, toad shit, and possibly mastadon shit leaching up from below. There's plenty of organic matter.

But, we live in an information-rich society. "cattail + pruning" yields over

19,000 hits on Google.

Interestingly, you may need an environmental impact statement and a federal inspection, license, and permission (which won't be granted) to fiddle with a wetlands.

[Oren]

Add to this mosquito control. Communities want to reduce the bastards.

-- Oren

"equal opportunity, not equal results"

[Jim Z]

I think a pond that size should not be very hard to manage with your aeriator and some chemical treatment. The volume of water is small enough to make it cost effective.

The plant you need to avoid is Eurasian milfoil which has messed up a lot of small lakes and ponds throughout northeast Ohio. It responds to only one chemical, called Sonar. It costs around $2000 a gallon.

I belong to a lake community, in Rome Ohio, and we are going to be spending big bucks to rid ourselves of this green bastard.

Good luck

[Colbyt]

The less matter that goes into the eco-system, the less you have to counter balance later.

I would trim them. On my smaller yard-sized pond I also skim leaves and stuff in the Fall.

You keep the Heron. I am not willing to let him eat my fish.