Weedy pond on property--how expensive to clean up? (drain, cost, labor)

[Lilac Farm]

Hi folks,

We're house hunting and located a pretty little home in a country-ish area with a small pond at the edge of the lot. Problem is, it's terribly overgrown with tall weedy stuff that looks like it might be cattails. I'm concerned that the weeds are choking out the pond and turning it into mere swamp.

What does it cost nowadays to get a small pond bulldozed out a bit deeper and cleaned up? I'm guesstimating size at about 90x38 feet (edge to edge).

We wouldn't intend to do anything with the pond other than use it as a wildlife watching area and enjoy the view, so all low-cost solutions welcome too!

[peppermint]

We have a small pond on our property that the previous owner "built". They borrowed the neighbor's backhoe. If it's country living, there are probably neighbors with equipment you could borrow. That's the cheapest option. Our pond is very shallow (4 feet maybe), and with the drought we're having, it's drying up. Is that happening at the place you're thinking of? That can sometimes make ponds look bad. Usually ours is quite lovely with ducks, frogs, turtles, and one time a blue heron.

[South Range Family]

Karmex®

$45 for a 5 pound bag.

[Lilac Farm]

Thanks for your reply. As far as I can tell (from the road), the pond isn't drying up, just overgrown with very tall, spreading-out cattails. A fall picture of the property showed dark water everywhere except in the middle of the pond, where there was a patch of what looked like dead grasses. I guess that's where the cattails have really taken hold.

I'd love to see ducks and other wildlife enjoying themselves out there!

[peppermint]

Originally Posted by Lilac Farm

Thanks for your reply. As far as I can tell (from the road), the pond isn't drying up, just overgrown with very tall, spreading-out cattails. A fall picture of the property showed dark water everywhere except in the middle of the pond, where there was a patch of what looked like dead grasses. I guess that's where the cattails have really taken hold.

I'd love to see ducks and other wildlife enjoying themselves out there!

Hmm, my advice is no good then. Well, this is not my element so I'll defer to someone who has had to deal with this issue.

[Poltracker]

Originally Posted by South Range Family

Karmex®

$45 for a 5 pound bag.

According to the label, that stuff should not be used around water.

[christina0001]

Your state department of conservation might have some helpful advice.

[PacificFlights]

First find out if the pond is protected or not. Second, find out if its just a lack of mainatance or if other enviromental factors are involved. Once you know those, you'll also be able to know if you can get by with grunt labor or if you'll need special services.

[South Range Family]

Originally Posted by Poltracker

According to the label, that stuff should not be used around water.

.....And in Canada it is marketed as a pond treatment.


It kills all plant life. It doesn't harm fish, snails, or animals.

Copper sulfate is used to do the exact same thing, but it will kill your snails.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by Lilac Farm

Thanks for your reply. As far as I can tell (from the road), the pond isn't drying up, just overgrown with very tall, spreading-out cattails. A fall picture of the property showed dark water everywhere except in the middle of the pond, where there was a patch of what looked like dead grasses. I guess that's where the cattails have really taken hold.

I'd love to see ducks and other wildlife enjoying themselves out there!

Cattails are extremely hard to get rid of entirely. What you can attempt to do is use a grappling hook on a winch. You need to get to the roots as low as possible and pull them out. Once cleaned out just keep an eye on the pond and keep it cleaned.

Another way to handle the issue of cattails, and expand the pond, is to drain it if not spring fed. Then you can bulldoze it deeper and wider as needed. If it is spring fed you can always rent a trackhoe with sufficient reach and clean it out, deepen it and expand it. The newer trackhoes are very easy to use and operate like a video game with multiple joysticks for controls. There are plenty of rental places out there that rent heavy equipment and it is not as expensive as you might think.