Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Willow and Cottonwood Trees - water consumption?

Anyone have any idea how many gallons per day mature willows and cottonwood trees consume each day in hot weather?

I have a pond that losses a lot of water beyond what I think would just be evaporation in hot weather.

Are willows and cottonwoods a good tree around ponds where water is expensive to pump from a well?

What other trees might provide wind breaks to reduce wind driven shore erosion and add athletics?

Thanks!

Not sure but I have a big weeping willow on rhe east side of my flow through trout pond. Jusy know I can see the pink roots in the water and it drops a lot of branches year around. Very messy tree.

Adult cottonwood over 500 gallons daily according to some experts I know here in NE. Couple that with evaporation and/or seepage and it's significant losses daily. I have heard that willows are nearly as aggressive. I walk the margins of my ponds monthly and pull or spray any cottonwood, willow or cattail saplings I encounter.

Conifers are my preferred choice for windbreaks as they won't drop leaves/twigs adding to organic load in a pond. Also they are much more dense and block wind more effectively. Not sure what species perform well where you live - here the Eastern Red Cedar is ubiquitous, cheap, hardy, drought tolerant, and nearly impossible to kill.

The trees that make good wind breaks are in the center and right of the picture. They are White Pines and Norway Spruces. I like Norway Spruces best because they break the wind better and are a great shelter for birds. To add variety I also have Blue Spruces and Australian Pines. Even though they are messy, Weeping Willows just seem to belong with a water picture. I never thought much about Cotton Woods until I read the notes kept by Louis & Clark as they explored the Louisiana Purchase and talked about the grand Cotton Wood trees along the Missouri River. So I decided I wanted one on the pond. So I guess it's a trade off of what you want. But wind breaks are slowing winds from evaporating the water and trees are shading the sun from evaporation also. So trees are not a completely bad thing.



Look what comes with trees.

I don't know the number on gallons per day. However, I have often driven Texas rural roads and seen willows and cottonwoods. If I stop to look, I always find a dried up pond.

I started raking Chara out of my trout pond. I was amazed to find roots from a nearby Weeping Willow at least 20 feet away from the tree in the water.