6/29/2011 1:06 PM
Ok I have 30-50 yr old ponds that have a tremendous amount of silt and sediment layering the bottom as well as an old field bed overflow from 40 yrs of using a septic system (that we have replaced hooking it up to the city sewage system). I know for a fact that for 34 years my club had the practice of mulching all leaves (a whole lot) and leaving them where they were mulched in which during flooding events, it would get washed into the bottom of our ponds. This builds up a very high nitrogen based bottom to our ponds which are only about 1'-3' deep.
I had a great chemical program going for about 7 years until hurricane Katrina moved through and threw our budget out the window. Now we have coontail growing in the ponds and duck weed growing on top of the ponds which are now about 80% covered. For the last three years I have refused to put any money into weed control for these ponds when I needed fertilizer and chemicals for our greens and fairways first. One more thing to top off this description of my situation, When we have had severe flooding in the past it washed out all of the duck weed onto our shores as well as a good bit of the coontail which made it easy for us to remove but the kicker is that within one month the pond would cover over with algae.
So I have had to make the choice of living with the weeds or the algae with no budget to get rid of either. I chose the weeds but only because they actually look better then the algae.
fast forward to today. I am looking for thoughts on cheap control methods for the weeds because I deem the algae cheaper to get rid of then the weeds (maybe I am wrong). I still do not have a budget but we have steadily been moving in the right direction and I would like to start a new program this winter/spring and could do a few trials in my smaller ponds. I need the name of a few chemicals that are affordable, can be used in an irrigation pond (although I can block off 1/2 - 3/4 of it. While I am aware of fish kills and what causes them, that is not my main worry as that can be cleaned up and I can take it one part at a time. I have taken many of classes through the GCSAA and learned enough to know these ponds will always be a problem as long as they are so shallow and I have taken drastic steps in making them better long term wise by collecting all leaves and grass clippings possible and composting them as well as getting rid of the septic system.
One last issue I will still have to deal with. My course acts as a watershed for the neighborhood subdivision. since they were built after we were established, all of the drainage canals and systems will back flow onto the course when their capacity is overloaded which causes my course to flood out by 25%-30%. I am trying to work with the local parish (county for all Yankees) in cleaning up the canals that are back flowing into our course because these weeds have came from those canals. So an ongoing program will be essential in keeping our ponds under control.
Any Ideals?