Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment Struggling Water lilies

Another Buckeye reply here... NE Ohio. The GC aren't fond of water lilies in my experience, however, the water lilies seem to be one of the first emergent plants in our pond in the spring. As a result, when we had GC, they would munch off the new leaves and stems. I only became aware of how much damage can occur to the water lilies with snapping turtles this past summer (2020). Our pond is small, about 1/4 surface acre. I speculate that when a mature snapper or two visit a smaller pond that may not have much in the way of injured, dead, or sick fish that the turtles then turn to eating more vegetation. At the peak of the water lily growth last summer, we had them growing from 6" depth to around 5' depth and encompassing 75% of the circumference of the pond. I don't know the variety, but they are probably a common, native plant that I transplanted once about 25 years ago. They were obtained from a local pond owner generous enough to let me dig and take some tubers home. The blooms are white in color.

As far as destruction goes, I would say the GC do a lot of water lily damage when pond weed or other preferable aquatic plants aren't available. We haven't had GC in the pond since the Polar Vortex of 2014. Just prior to that time the APW and lilies were nearly eliminated in the pond by the GC. We had only one GC in the pond before the vortex, but it was approaching 36" in length. Both plant types recovered over the next few years until we had muskrats in 2019. I removed the muskrats during 2019 summer and 2020 spring. I anticipated a bountiful 2020 summer for APW and lilies. The APW was slower to recover than the lilies in 2020. Then came a snapper visitation that probably cut 40% of the lily leaves during July and August. Our turtle traps have not been as productive as I had hoped, so when the turtles left the pond on their own I was pleased. They will probably come back, so more effort to remove turtles will be needed in 2021.

If you have both snappers and GC, in my opinion you have two critters that will continue to damage plants. BTW, when I planted the water lilies years ago, I planted them in 1' of water depth or less. In my experience it's better to go shallower with planting depth than deeper. The lilies' tubers will naturally creep into the deeper water over time on their own. We've had them in water up to 6' deep after several years. I can't offer an opinion on any issues you might be having with water chemistry, soil type, or a particular variety of water lily. Hope you can find some answers. We do enjoy the lilies blossoms during the summer months and the fish welcome the shade and cover.