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Duck weed

pdyesudianpdyesudian Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Hi
We have a small mere in our back garden. This year it has been overgrown with duck weeds. It is so thick that the ducks had to run on their surface. All the marine life has been ruined and the cuts have left too. Please could you give us suggestions on how we can get rid of this problem?
Many thanks
Paul

Posts

  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    Some info here may help
     https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=366

  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    The only way to get rid of it is to net it out but this may not be viable for you. I found in my pond that it grows rapidly when the water warms up so this good summer may be to blame for the amount you have. It took me a good 3-4 years of consistently netting before I got rid of it. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • Singing GardenerSinging Gardener Posts: 1,237
    We used an eco-friendly control product (probably the one mentioned in the RHS article but I can't remember exactly what it was called) a few years back and it eliminated the duckweed completely without doing any harm to the fish or wildlife. It does need several treatments over a period of a few months. Our pond is quite small though so it might be too difficult/expensive in a larger pond.
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    edited September 2018
    Once established, duckweed is a nightmare to get rid of.  Continually netting it out will get it back under control over time, but from experience once it's there is it a constant battle to control.  It does disappear over winter so remove what you can through the autumn and then look for it appearing next spring.
    If it's a larger body of water you may have more success if you put a boom of some kind across and pull it to one end to gather as much as you can before removing it.
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