Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Willows trying to establish

Ive got a bunch of small willow sprouts trying to get going. All are in the water and about 6" above the water surface. I hit them with rodeo as I went around hitting cattails but doesnt look like it did much too them. Is there anything out there that will?

Is it willow trees or water willow? I had the later try to establish in my shallows last year and I either pulled them up or kept them cut off at the waterline with my weedeater. They didnt survive the mild winter we had here and I haven't seen another sprout.

I get willow tree saplings at my water's edge and I just pull them on a very wet day. Once they get a good hold on the soils then they are a bit more work and may require shovel persuasion.

Must be water willow as they are in the shallows trying to get a foothold.

Water willow is fairly easy to pull up, here anyway. I had let them go last year to help with nutrient consumption but once I saw how quickly it wanted to spread it was pretty obvious how aggressive they can be. Even the taller plants were very easy to remove.

Remedy.

Toxic to fish so you have to be careful with it. What I do is mix up a small amount with Diesel fuel in a quart hand spray bottle. Carry a stick or cane in one hand to pull the sapling towards the bank, step at the edge of the water wearing rubber boots, reach out with spray bottle in other hand and spray towards shore without getting spray in water. Works slick.

I tried the hand pulling as well as cutting them and they just grew back from the roots. They don't grow back from Remedy and I can treat all around the pond in just a few minutes. Never killed a fish.

Luckily, mine didn't come back this year. Thank goodness. I knocked it all down right before a cold front and it seemed to eradicate it all.