I recently purchased a property with a 1/4 acre pond. The previous owners told me it used to be stocked with fish, but everything was fished out years ago and no maintenance was down for quite a few years. The pond is currently 70 - 80% covered by this plant. I'm hoping someone can help me identify what it is. The pond is in eastern PA. Thanks in advanced for any help you can give me!
Your problem plant is water shield technically called Brasenia schreberi. Normally this grows mostly in shallower water down to around 6 ft deep unless the water is very clear. With real clear water it can grow to depths where light penetrates - maybe deep 12-16ft?. The leaves and stems usually have a somewhat thick gelatinous coating that resists penetration of herbicides. Aa added surfactant would be needed to get good penetration of the herbicide. It might take a special aquatic herbicide to get a good kill. Do plenty of homework before and label reading before trying to kill it. Manually a tool called a Weed Razor would cut it well for removal instead of chemicals. I think there has been good discussion here on the PB forum for what herbicide works well for water shield. Do a search in Google for Pond Boss Forum control of water shield.
