I am cleaning up a pond in Pennsylvania and one of the things I am doing is eliminating some of the shoreline vegatation. Most of it consists of small willow bushes, some of which extend out into the water anywhere from three to four feet. others have grown into small trees about 1 to 3 inches in diameter. Their roots snake around everywhere and the plants have a tough weedy mass when they get into the water. I have been using a lopper and hand-pulling to try to eliminate these things. I also have some cattails here and there.

I've read some posts on how to deal with the cattails and will follow the advices given. But, now that I am about half-way done TRYING to clear out these small willow things, I am asking myself, am I doing my pond some harm? I noticed on PondBoss that bullrushes are a good thing to have around a pond and I will allow them to grow in small places if they come up this spring. But, should I still be trying to get rid of these invasive willow shrubs or do they have a benefit I am missing? What should I keep or bleep? Thanks for all or any advice.