Originally Posted By: Errfoil
Originally Posted By: anthropic

My take: If you have the budget and eutrophic water, floating islands could really be worthwhile. They even have some utility in infertile waters, but aren't really designed for that situation.


My pond is not eutrophic (I don't think) because I run an aerator and all the fish, turtles, insects, etc seem really happy. My problem is a dead end pond that flooded the adjacent meadows this spring and thus received a giant dose of excess nutrients. This happened 2 years ago and we eventually regained control by mechanically removing the FA. If this 3 year old pond is going to flood and get dosed with nutrients every few years then I need an alternative to spending my whole summer in the pond with a rake! I have grasses and some cattails on the waters edge, and plan on transplanting some local water lilies, so my next step in adding plants is a floating island. ?!?!?


Do NOT transplant local water lilies. That natives will take over and are difficult to remove once established. Use hybrid lilies instead. Much slower growing, don't seem to spread via seed, and are much more attractive anyhow. Just pricey, but a lot less expensive than removal of the aggressive natives.