Shorty I concur. The hand books says to cut the banks down steep to 3 ft to control weeds. My experience has shown it don't matter weeds are going to grow no matter what and as you pointed out weeds will find there way thru rocks. If your putting rocks for weed control I whould think you need to put down some sort of mat or weed barrier before the rocks go in. I built a retaining wall that is straight down to 3 feet and the aquatic weeds are now thicker in front of it than the natural 3:1 sloped banks next to it. I just spent 275$ on aquatic herb from one of the nice vendors that support pond boss. I haven't used it yet it still hasn't quit raining in our parts. The best defense in my mind for keeping the bank mantained is gentally sloped banks 5 to 1 or less as pointed out above so that you can safely mow as close to the edge as possible.


The road goes on forever and the party nevers end...............................................