Hi Rainman and Esshup,
Thanks for your candid replies. I need a back and forth dialog like this to help me get to the best possible decision. This is why I joined the forum, if this were easy for me I could just look it up and go ahead. Esshup has shot right to the heart of my dilemma. What will I do if I don�t get all the weeds with the heavy equipment and considering the persistent, invasive nature of this fern I think that is likely to happen. I also concur that a chemical is far and away the easiest way to deal with this kind of situation. The difficulty I have with a non natural solution is that I don�t trust the chemical companies and the government when they tell me these treatments are safe. I�m in my early 60�s. I cannot possibly tell you how many times I have seen chemical/pharmaceutical/agri-business companies push their products to make money when in some cases they clearly knew their product was harmful. In some cases our governmental agencies have even gotten behind the use of these products. I�m not saying or implying that our government deliberately lied to us. Sometimes a product turned out after more information came in, to be harmful. We have all seen examples of medications recalled after directly or indirectly causing death or other serious unintended consequences and unexpected side effects. I don�t know enough about the chemicals and don�t believe that there is enough information available for me to trust the health of my children and others to use this approach. I plan to continue eating out of this pond. It would be nice if I could trust this solution but I have already lost my Father in law and close friends have lost pets to �safe� chemicals properly applied in good faith and with the confidence of government agencies backing their decisions to their lawns. I�m pretty sure I�m not the only person on this forum to decide not to use chemicals. It will likely be more work and take a longer time but I believe it is possible. To me the alternative is to give up and accept the weed or give up the pond.

�What will you do if after the renovation, it pops back up because of some plants that were missed?�
The only answer I have so far is; as Esshup states �intensive efforts� and dig up each sprout for probably about a year until eventually it is finally all gone. I�m hoping someone here knows what eats this stuff. I know I don�t want constant waterfowl in my pond and not only to avoid swimmers itch. A woods pond is already nutrient rich, any waterfowl only adds more nutrition for algae and other just as noxious stuff. Last Spring I bought some Muscovy ducklings that I will soon release in the pond and hopefully they will eat the weed and having been raised here remain here. If they can remove the weed when it is gone I can remove them. This may not work either, it won�t take long to learn. I don�t really want to release the ducks in the pond, I don�t want to dig up the pond for probably over a year but this weed has got to go. I�m about at my wits end.

Rainman wrote: �(most likely) the bottom was never properly compacted.�
When I had the pond dug I hired people that had constructed many ponds in the area but that doesn�t mean they knew about proper compaction. They spent a great deal of time just driving their bull dozers over the bottom and each layer of the dam as they built it up but they never brought in any of those big roller machines. What constitutes proper compaction? If I do end up doing a major reconstruction of this pond (which to me seems likely considering my views above) it may be something that I should consider.

Rainman also wrote: The two Limes I mentioned were Hydrated and Ag limes.�
Now here might be an idea! Would the hydrated lime kill the water clover? I don�t think I have an objection to lime, I�ll do more research on that. Here is the new idea: I can lower the level of the pond, collect any living things I want to use to jump start the pond after I�m sure the Water Clover is killed and put them in my holding pond. Next, rather than dig up the roots all the way around the pond, apply the lime in (what concentration?) to kill the water clover and other plants. Over the course of the next year spot treat any places the clover pops up with another application of H. lime. Finally after I�m sure the plant is completely gone, refill the pond and begin stocking with forage fish out of the holding pond. Finally fill and restock the pond properly.
First do you think this would work? Next how do I apply this hydrated lime? Any safety precautions? Does anybody see any holes or problems with this approach?

Kru Heller
Powhatan, Va.