Aquatic vegetation falls into two categories. Vascular rooted vegetation (weeds) and Algae. Weeds are broken down into three categories, submersed (those that grow beneath the water), emersed (those that grow out of the water) and floating ( those that float on the surface of the water). A good balance of rooted aquatic vegetation is very beneficial to ponds & lakes, providing oxygen for the fish, spawning grounds, cover for the smaller fish and the tying up of nutrients that would otherwise be utilized by less desirable vegetation like Algae.

Algae is also broken down into three categories. Filamentous algae ( what most people refer to as pond scum, looks much like green cotton candy , grows from the bottom and when oxygen gets trapped in the filaments comes to the top and floats around) Planktonic algae (billions of tiny single celled algae, can make your pond or lake look like a bowl of pea soup) and Attached Erect algae ( looks like a weed, is attached to the bottom, is gritty to the touch and when removed from the pond or lake and let to dry on the shore turns pure white and falls apart easily, the most common of this type is Chara).

Visable algae for the most part has very little value to your pond or lake, the filamentous & planktonic forms can reproduce at phenomenal rates and sudden die offs can cause oxygen depletion. The Attached Erect forms (Chara & Nitella) can have the same benefits that the vascular rooted vegetation has.

Excessive weed & algae growths can interfere with the use of your pond or lake. We do not recommend eliminating all of the weeds in any body of water, weeds can be selectively controlled in the areas you wish to use for recreation and let to flourish in areas that are not in use. With algae however, with the exception of the Chara, it is usually necessary to control it before it gets out of hand.

If weeds are your problem, it is very important to know what type of weed you have, if you do not know the type of weed, you can send us a weed sample and we will identify it for you.You also can look at our Water Plant Identification section which gives pictures and descriptions of the common aquatic weeds and the area of the United States where they are commonly found.

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