Hello, I bought my property last year. It has a huge pond, about an acre in size and is 30 feet deep in some places. It had been stocked with trout and crawdads, has lots of froggies, too. There are some lilies, iris, cattails, grasses and ....... bog bean, which is trying to take over! It's sending its tendrils out and creating a "mat" over the shallower areas. Is there any way to eliminate it without killing off the inhabitants? I can try to save some of the lilies and iris, but the cattails, etc. I can live without. There are also wood ducks who visit and I don't want to harm them either. I had a pond expert come out and look and he said it would be best to dredge it. Unfortunately, he said it would cost thousands to bring in the equipment and do the work. That's just not an option for me. I'd sure appreciate any ideas you might have. Thanks, Kate :blink:

This is a dilemma. Dredging is harmful to the pond inhabitants (plant and animal) as well as making a mess and costing money. It also wouldn't eliminate the bog bean, just set it back for a while. Bog bean is normally a good native. I have one plant; it barely grows at all. Most people who don't care about the environment and its inhabitants would apply herbicide but that would kill other good plants and animals as well. There are various poisons but I personally would never use them. If it were my pond, and I really thought the bog bean had to be reduced, I would try physical removal. It is very labor intensive but maybe you could try it in just one area. My farm pond page has links to companies that sell poisons and equipment for larger ponds at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/farm.htm
They can better advise you but will probably go the toxic route. Good luck! Too bad you can't harvest it and sell it to pond keepers! A few other ideas that probably won't work: add other native plants that can at least compete for space and nutrients with the bog bean or add moving water where the bog bean grows as they don't like being splashed or bounced around much.