Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Talked to a licensed pond guy

I ran into a local pond expert at lunch and asked him what he charges to spray 1/4 acre pond for WM and DW and was floored, his first application was 300.00 and if needed second application would be 200 for the follow up and he quarantees his work. Heck I cant even buy the stuff for that so I think I will give him a shot. What do you guys think?

It may be a good idea depending on what and how he will do the work. Ask him how and what he will do and what is the guaranty. If all he is going to do is spray with a contact herbicide the DW will probably come back. You have to expose the seed bed to herbicide for some time to stop (eradicate) it and then deal with small spots that may come back.

He treats with Sonar AS, and tends to the spot treating the banks if needed.. How does one expose the seed bed.

Properly used the Sonar should take care of that assuming no big rains or flow through events. When it starts dying and the water is open ,if you then start seeing new DW that is an indication that the seeds from the seed bed on the bottom are floating up and growing . You should not see this with Sonar as it should stay in the water long enough to get it also. If you do then it should be sprayed.

Thank you ewest.

You are welcome and I wish you the best of results with the DW. Keep us posted on results and on what you see during the process.

Oh you can bet I will, I get so much and ask so much from the forums, I would like every chance I get to return something to it that is useful.
I think the guy will be by on monday or tuesday to have a look and my pond. His name is Shane Brown of Clear Ponds He does alot of work in Kansas, has anyone ever used him?

I'm really confused on how he can do this. You need about a pint of Sonar AS depending on depth, $300 so I have no idea how he is making money. I gurantee I do a good job but can never gurantee results, it is trouble waiting to happen if you gurantee that. Not saying he will not do a great job but not sure how for that money??? Please let us know how it goes. If he can do clear the lake of DW and WM for that I will learn form this b/c I know I could not.

I quess maybe then when he told me that it was 300 for the application of sonar and if it needed another application it would be 200 more. More than likely it will be the 500 dollar route and even with out seeing my pond he said it would more than likely need another treatment next year, which as bad as the pond is right now I would agree but between now and then I hope the aeration will help and I am working with the microbes, not sure I want to go cutting down all the trees around my pond just yet, atleast now you can see the water where as before you couldnt it was so grown up. I should know more at the first of the week.

Do you get direct sunlight to the pond ? Sonar can have less than adequate results in deep shade.

Big trees all around but it does get the direct overhead sun, I have a couple of overhanging trees yet to remove but I plan on getting them out tomorrow.

Ok the pond guy was here and early this morning to apply Sonar to my pond, he figured it as a fat 1/4 acre pond but treated like a 1/3 acre pond. mixing the sonar in with water and a sufactant of some sort and walked the edges while spraying a heavy stream of water in the pond the whole circumference. He advised to shut down the aerator for I believe a couple weeks to help keep the Sonar from evaporating? I believe is the term he used.Then he rinsed the pump in the pond for any residue left. Being it was a .34 acre he charged me 350 an think that it should take care of the problem this year if not then a second treatment would be 200 I am not sure where the guarantee comes in other than he did a good job. Oh and he give me a nice discount for paying in cash. I was surprised to see that the Sonar was a cream color that was a little thick.

The way I figure it, $500 is about 8 hours of doser work, I would have spent the $$$ on a small 2 foot shelf quickly dropping to 5 feet.

Of course you would have to drain the pond first

Yeah drain it and let it dry out for months then redo it. Best quote I had if everything went real well as planned was 2500.00 up to 3800.00 and I am afraid I would destroy the surrounding solitude of a pond in the woods type feeling but I have already warned my wife that if by next fall I dont have a pond with fish that I was going to remedy that problem with heavy equipment work and have a larger pond while I am at it. I hope that this takes care of the problem.

My excavator could clean your pond out for much less than the quote you got and do it without disturbing much more than the actual pond. He does alot of work on Z hwy not far from OG.

That makes me smile! Thanks for the info Whats his name if you dont mind me asking?

Trialsguy-- I sent you a PM.

well its been 3 weeks now on the sonar application. My WM and DW are showing signs of discoloration and my aeration boil is starting to widen out a little bit, and there is a hole opened up off to the side of the aeration boil about the size of a 12' jon boat, so I am assuming that it is starting to work, Idont know for sure but it seemed the color was paler last week on the greeness of the weeds and a bit darker this week but I could be paranoid for sure! Worried that it will only weaken and not kill all of it. I know I have to be patient with this stuff.

Trialsguy...I use 8oz /total surface acre when treating for duckweed using Sonar. Do you know how many ounces he used?

Sonar has a long half life about 15-25 days, so you may want to call him back for a re-treat to boost up the parts per billion. The duckweed after 3 weeks should be showing good signs of weaking by now.

Have you had a lot of rain to dilute the parts per billion in the water? If so, this could affect your results.

Cary I think he used 11-12oz I cant recall.
I just came up from my pond it looks more like a potty pond then anything and smells like one too. The duck weed looks like it is dying and I have a large brown area on the pond surface but I really cant see where the WM is changing too much. I have this green-brown mass all over the surface with bubbles in it, I guess it could be some sort of alge but its not stringy and when I drag a rake through it only looks like watermeal I am going to give the pond guy a call if I get a chance, I would post pictures but my son has the camera out of town.

I havent had but a inch of rain since it was treated and that was 2 weeks into treatment, and it didnt raise the pond that I could tell we are so dry it didnt make it to the pond