Clearing those dam weeds

A freshly cut pond that was once heavily weeded. It was only cut once to get it this clear, showing the effectiveness of the cutter when used properly.

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When water weeds grow so thick on dams or ponds that boating and fishing become impossible, it is time to act! This article looked at the cutting back of the weeds as an effective control method.

One problem often encountered by small-farm dam managers (and the anglers who use these dams) is that of an overabundance of certain aquatic water weeds. A dam may be heavily overgrown with trees and reeds, making fishing extremely difficult.

Such growths may be trimmed to allow for angling, but it is not these growths with which we are concerned here, as they harbour birds and insects that are pleasing to humans. We are more concerned with the dam that, although it has a clean shoreline, has large growths of aquatic weed that makes boating and fishing almost impossible.

Water weeds such as Myriophyllum and Potamogeton grow in dense masses in still-water ponds and dams. They can eventually overgrow the whole dam, if it is a small one. Both species are rooted weeds, and eradication is often impossible for practical reasons. Some methods that have been employed are:

• The drying out of the dam (often impractical).