Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Identifying plants Plant ID

I was wondering if anyone knew what kind of plant this is and if I should be concerned. It is coming in along the edges of my pond and in some of the flooded timber areas. The best I have come up with is that it is some variety of Rush. Thanks in advance. The pond is located in Upstate NY.

It appears to be a species or rush. Exactly which species is hard to say from that photo.

Thanks for the reply, as a native plant is there any harm in having it around the pond that your aware of?

Your photo is a little blurry, but I'm fairly certain you have horsetail rush (Equisetum hyemele)- aka "scour rush", since early settlers used it to scrub their pots and pans.
It isn't common down in my neck of the country. So I'm not sure if it might pose any issues for you.

I'm playing it safe and going with Kelly's i.d. Plus there is FA in the water around the rush.

I don't see it being Horsetail, looks too smooth, but some kind of rush it certainly is. I generally don't see a problem with rushes in general but that can vary from place to place. Either way I wouldn't be overly concerned.
Check to see if the stem in segmented, as horse's tail is segmented where other rushes are a solid tube, solid as in lacking segments.

BTW, the Brazos River Bottom is lousy with Horse's tail.

went down to the pond today and took a closer look, the stem is not segmented at all. The FA in the water is a whole other issue that im trying to figure out how to deal with. I am installing some aeration this spring and was considering trying some barley straw. Any thoughts on that for FA?

My pond was taken over by the exact same last year.. I've completely irradicated it except for maybe 2-3 bushes.. I sprayed it with cutrine last year let it die and dry out all winter then lit everyone on fire all died but a couple.. I had some huge bushes too one bank was solid 4-6' out for 200' and it's bare dirt now (except now I have FA) I'm letting my pond run it's course on it's own this year and diagnose it all in fall and spray and burn as needed.. I swear by burning now it's the way Togo I can walk around my whole pond in flip flops now..

You can try the barley straw and see how it works for you. I tried it once and gave up, going straight to a copper based product. My money would be on a Cutrine liquid/granular approach.

Thanks BK and Esshup. My pond is still relatively new (2nd spring) so Im still trying to see how things are settling into place. I must admit I enjoy seeing some of the different marinal plants in the flooded sapling areas but the FA sure is painful to look at. Im wondering if as more of those natural plants fill in if they will utilize the nutrients that the FA are taking advantage of?

Heres a pic I took while walking to my stand one afternoon this fall.

Wow, nice pond! Rushes of all types are common around here in upstate NY, and will be very tough to control since they will just re-seed out of adjacent areas our out of the fur/feathers/crap of wildlife. They cause no harm and I think are attractive as they don't get nearly as large as cat tails or some of the tall grasses.

Heck, I will take it if you want to share. I have a nice mud hole in need of some green.

Rub line, according to some of the experts here they say so. I agree from my experience of killing something off. I killed some pond weed, and it looked great for about 2 weeks. Guess what came to see me? FA.
I'll try to find the thread.

Hi Rubline, good to hear from you - it's been a while and we need to hear from you more often! Hoping all is well in beautiful NY.

I am not a plant expert, but that grass is aesthetically pleasing, and looks as though it will remain on the margins of your BOW. Marginal vegetation never has caused me any problems - I have abundant arrowroot [?] and it always remains in 12" or less and I really enjoy it's presence. Also, apparently the deer love it, too - it's often kept in check by them.

Remember, rooted vegetation at this early stage in your pond's life is your friend. It will help utilize nutrients being used by your FA problem. The more BENEFICIAL rooted vegetation around the margins and submerged will keep your FA at bay. Consider thoughtfully application of any kind of herbicide on your FA - year 2 often sees a significant introduction of rooted vegetation. Unless it gets to be a huge problem [FA covering 25% of your pond] give mother nature a shot at cleaning it up. Also, remember FA likes certain water temps - once it heats up it won't flourish nearly as much.

Keep us in the loop and especially on whatever type of rush that is, how it spreads, how deeply it grows, etc. I personally think it looks attractive, easy to fish through, will provide great cover for PK Shrimp, aquatic invertabrates, YOY fish, etc. and will help control your FA given time.

Beautiful photo of your little slice of heaven - thanks for sharing! What type of fishery did you end up establishing in your pond? How are your fish doing?

Good response TJ...Ditto. I think rushes are wonderful.I have some coming back in naturally also.It will offer great erosion protection from wave action.

The only thing Iwould do if I were going to do something, is introduce arrowhead, or pickerelweed also.

Thanks for the insight TJ and James. I added some pickerelweed last year and was thinking about adding arrowhead as well as Lizards tail this year. I have alot of it growing in some wet areas of the property. I figured that I could just transplant that.

I ended up going with LMB, CC, and BC. I realize and am aware of the majority opinion regarding BC in smaller bow's on the site. I've always liked them, the same way many love there BG and perhaps it will be less of a chance for a problem in my more northern climate. All the fish are doing great and was amazed how quickly they grew the first year, especially the CC. I was feeding on the days that allowed me to get out there. I did notice that there are some GSF in there, I wasnt sure if I should remove them as I catch them. I also like the pumpkinseeds but wasnt sure how they would interact with the make up I have now. The pond is right at about 2 acres and the initial stocking numbers were 150lmb, 150 CC and 100 BC. I had put in 40lbs FHM prior and a whole bunch of crayfish.

The amount of enjoyment I'm getting from the pond is quickly exceeding any price tag.

What makes up your forage base? I see you mentioned PS and GSF and crayfish. Did you stock any BG? I'm thinking your FHM are probably extirpated by this point and you need something to feed those BC, LMB and CC. Not too familiar with PS spawning or fecundity - but I know GSF won't last long in your pond with those predators.

Good to hear your fish are growing and doing well. Since you are absentee owner, might make sense to install a feeder to help feed your sunfish which will in turn feed your predators.

Well, I dont have any PS in there now but am thinking that I would like to add them and have yet to introduce any BG into the pond. I did have some sort of spawn last year but of what I'm not entirely sure. I have been wondering whether or not there is currently enough in there for them to eat, and especially unsure where the CC are concerned. I put an additional 20#'s of FHM in last week just to give them a boost, coming off of winter. I have no idea about how the crayfish may be doing since I put them in last summer. Although the pond is so clear currently I could probably throw a mask and some fins on and find out first hand.

Rub, it takes 10# of fish to put 1# on 1 LMB, so I think you will be really, really short on forage for all the predators in your pond.

Essup, your right. When I think about it in those terms, im short on forage and will work on correcting that immediately. Any insight on how PS do reproducing?

PS's don't reproduce as much as BG, but they are alot hardier in cold climates.

IIRC, 1x/year. Like RES.

ok, Thanks guys

IMO you need a forage fish established, and soon, or those FHM stockings will break the bank! But don't fear, for Northern LMB fisheries it's actually recommended by some of our experts to stock predator fish FIRST, and panfish [BG/PS] SECOND. So, you are not in a bad spot here - and the upside is your BG/PS won't likely get on top of your LMB and overpopulate. Intentional or not, you're sitting in a good situation.

I see nothing wrong with starting PS and BG. In a pond with established predators you have to consider stocking advanced fish for fear of immediate predation otherwise. Nothing a few hundred sexually mature 4-8" BG won't fix, then just pray for 2-3 spawns this Summer. I have zero practical experience with PS other than researching them here on the forum, so I can't advise you other than to suggest the same - stock as advanced fish as you can find. I would personally treat them like RES and go with a 4:1 or 3:1 ratio BG/PS. So, if you stock 1500 BG in your 2 AC pond, stock 400/500 PS.

No clue what size your LMB might be now, but they are the apex predator in your fishery, and their gape should serve as your guide for panfish stocking sizes. If LMB are 9" and under, you can probably get away with 4" BG. If they are all 12"+, might need to rethink that size.

I am not a LMB expert by any means, not even close - so others can come in and help guide you much better than I. But, take heart, I think you're sitting in a great spot right now.

Travis what do you think here - stocking panfish [ps/bg] into lmb fishery? Qty and sizes - I think 1500 BG 4"+ and 400 PS 4"+ would do the trick, but might be excessive. Could get away with 250 adult BG and 75 adult PS?

Looking back I can see my initial mistake with respect to my forage base. I think a further set back was that the BC that went in at the time were only 1-2" (125).I then put in another 25 BC that were 4-6". The LMB were 4-6" and CC 6-8". Other than my feeding and a limited spawn from the few larger BC, I probably went a whole summer without building a base. TJ your right about the size of my predator fish. The LMB are easily doubled in size as well as the CC and the fhms arent lasting long at this rate. Im starting to call around and see about getting a hold of some PS. Hopefully, the BC will spawn this year, im not sure how many GSF are in there but they are big enough to spawn and it sounds as if I should be looking at several hundred PS perhaps? I like to avoid BG in there if I can.

Thanks for all the insight. Heres a few pics