Most of us who manage landscape properties have some sort of water feature involved on one property or another. With the advent of the drought conditions we experienced over the last two years, pond management has become more of a concern and challenge. With the increase in water needed to maintain our properties and the increase of evaporation, some of our smaller holding ponds have had a significant decrease in the volume of water they are able to retain. This, in turn, has allowed the surface water to be much closer to the bottom of the holding area, allowing for greater ultraviolet light penetration and a greater population of aquatic weeds.

Coyote Creek Golf Club in Fort Wayne, Indiana displaying low water level during drought in 2012

The best approach to managing these landscape water features is a preventative program beginning very early in the spring. In many cases, we wait until we see the problem on the surface, but by that time we are in a curative not a preventative mode. Advanced Turf Solutions has several great products to help with this preventative program and eliminate problems before they arise.

There are several questions to be considered when implementing these preventative programs:  Is this area used for irrigation? What is my source of recharge for this area? Does this water feature discharge to a creek or stream? Your ATS Representative can help design a program that works for your water features.

One of the most important areas of treatment is to begin a program that includes lake dye early in the year in order to reduce ultraviolet light penetration. Jet Black and True Blue treatments should be implemented early in spring, very soon after the ice melts, and continued on a program approach throughout the season. Also, at this time you should begin your aquatic herbicide applications. With the help of your ATS representative and the implementation of a preventative maintenance program, I am sure you will see an improvement in the quality of your water features.

ATS has some great new products that have been introduced this year in the aquatic area:

Have a great growing season!

Brad Emerick
CGCSATS