Texas Lake Solutions

It is mid August, and in our part of Texas that means hundred plus temperatures, and straw colored hay meadows and pastures.

• Unfortunately, it also means that a lot of the aquatic weeds are beginning to harden off and become tougher to kill. It would be a good idea to get started on it now, before it gets much later. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to get rid of them, and the more it will cost!

• If you have a dock, a boathouse, or a or a boat ramp in need of repair, you might want to look at the water level now, and the long range weather forecast, and start planning that before the rain returns.

• If you have not already done so, it is the time of year to start thinking ahead about fall maintenance. If you are planning any major renovation work, you should be planning it now. If you want to lower your pond or lakes water level to dredge the edges, or get rid of aquatic weeds by redoing the bottom, it will take some planning, and coordination to get it done.

• If you haven’t had your pH level checked in a while, it would be good to get some idea of what it is, and start planning toward liming in the fall. If your impound is at the right pH in the spring, and you start your fertilizer program on time and follow up consistently, you will have a much better chance of preventing weed problems.

• You might also think about removing brush in the area, allowing for better access to the water and better water quality.

• If you plan to lower the fertility of an over fertilized body of water, you should be thinking of planting a good vegetative barrier at the end of the lake or pond where water enters, and around any area that provides watershed. bare areas should be made into grassy waterways.

The best “green” aquatic weed control.

The very best, “greenest” method of controlling any pest, animal or vegetable is prevention. In terms of aquatic weeds that means a lot. If you can prevent anything, it is much better than treating or managing it later. That should be a “given”. Avoiding infestation by being vigilant in inspection and cleaning of boating equipment, making sure that there is a sufficient amount of suspended algae in the water to prevent sunlight from reaching the bottom, and if needed, and practical, raising the water level, or making the edges deeper by excavation are all good prevention measures.

Is biological control always “green”?

Often, biological controls for insects and weeds are considered “green,” just because they are biological and not chemical. This is not always the case. You have to look more deeply into the anatomy of the situation. A biological control is most often a natural predator from the plants native area. If the plant we are trying to rid ourselves of is an exotic, we are introducing another exotic into our native environment.

Most of these are studied by our top scientists to insure that they will be safe, but there is always a chance that an unknown factor could be missed, or that the situation could change, and that the new predator we have introduced to get rid of the problem, becomes a problem itself! As far as biodiversity is concerned, biological controls may be the least environmentally friendly.

What is the “green” potential for other methods of dealing with aquatic weeds? The answer might surprise you!

What about mechanical control?

Mechanical controls that cause fragmentation can cause the spread of most aquatic plants therefore, from the biodiversity standpoint, they are problematic. If done properly with the proper equipment, and at the right stage, they can be very helpful.

Chemical control.

Oddly, chemical controls, though seen as the least environmentally acceptable form of control by many, may pose the least threat to the environment. Unlike the biological controls which might have some unknown factors, chemical controls are a known quantity and can be handled accordingly. They are less likely to cause the infestation to spread than mechanical controls.