Hi everyone- I'm excited to have found this forum!
A little about me: For the past 21 years I lived on a very private, wooded 1.3 acres. It was beautiful, heartbreaking to leave such a wonderful piece of property and I truly admired all of the nature, but it was time to downsize. After a 7 month search I found where I have now been living for 3 weeks. What most attracted me to this property was... It has it's own private pond. I NOW HAVE MY VERY OWN POND!!! The previous owners took absolute wonderful care of the home and the rest of the property but their pride and joy was the pond and they wanted to make sure the next owner would take care of it just as they did. In fact, they had their realtor ask me 10's of questions prior to accepting my offer. I, of course, knew nothing about ponds but was very interested and wanted to know how to care for it even before they put me on trial. Fortunately, the previous owner sent me a bunch of helpful information (it took him years to get it 'just right') so I could continue to maintain it and the wildlife that have enjoyed it for so many years. We keep in touch and I know they are very happy that the home, property and pond they loved for so many years is in such good hands.
The one question I have is- And the previous owner always struggled with this... I have some mild submerged pondweed along about 1/8th of the perimeter of my pond. No algae, as I keep up on the blue pond dye. I know it's good forage for the frogs and fish and I like the frog noises- LOL. Should I leave it be, or will it just get out of control and then I'll be faced with a larger battle to get rid of it down the road? Not to mention if I add the Fluridone it pretty much kills all of the plant growth as well.
Congratulations on your new pond, Ollie! I remember how exciting it was for me to finally find the right place. The Previous owners sound like they really cared for the place and you are the beneficiary.
In your shoes I'd check the identity of the plants. Some are invasive, some are not. As Rod mentioned, they are an important source of oxygen. Also they offer cover for smaller fish, an important consideration. Might be good to have a water analysis done, as well.
We are all here to become better stewards. There's no better place to learn!
Thank you, FishinRod and Anthropic! I was thinking the same thing about cover for the fish, as well as the frogs. It really doesn't bother me so I will probably just let it be. I sent some pics to the prior owner; he would get rid of it from time-to-time when it would start to take over the pond or if it was combined with occassional duckweed... I tested the water a week ago for copper and it's basically nil. The prior owner made sure to hand it over in a healthy state to make sure I was off to a good start.
My goal for the pond is to continue to allow it to thrive so all of the wonderful wildlife continue to be able to enjoy it, which is enabling me to enjoy it so much. I currently have ducks, egrets, blue herons, geese (of course), frogs, and turtles that visit (I'm sure some of the frogs and or turtles actually live here). The prior owner stocked the pond several years back with bass and bluegill. The pond and many flowers and plants surrounding it also attracts butterflies, dragonflies and my FAVORITE: Hummingbirds!!!
I'm looking forward to learning more and more from everyone- Thank you again!!!
