Hiring A Lake Weed Control Specialist

By admin on June 21st, 2010

If you own a lake, hiring a lake weed control specialist may become necessary at some point. Here are a few things you should know before you get started. Please read this if you are considering hiring someone for lake weed control treatments.

The cost of lake weed control

The cost of chemicals used in aquatic weed control can be pretty high. The cost of earning and maintaining an aquatic pest control license is also high. In most states, it requires not only continuing education, but also annual license fees, and an incredible amount of insurance. Your lake weed control specialist carries this cost as a part of doing business. This will be reflected in the price of his services.

An ounce of prevention

Chemical and mechanical controls can not take the place of good prevention practices. Nor are they a complete solution on their own. Preventing regrowth by assuring proper fertility, and other management methods is the best practice following treatment.

Price and timing

In the event that you agree on a price, that price will be effective based on the level of infestation, at the time of the agreement. With invasive aquatic weeds, time is critical. If a week passes, between agreement and treatment, the plants could potentially double in mass! In such cases, the price would reflect this change.

To avoid timing issues

As soon as the problem is detected, take action! If treatment is needed, early detection and early action will save you money.
Contact the lake weed control specialist quickly to get on the schedule. The faster he can learn of the problem and take appropriate action, the better for you, your lake, and your pocketbook.
Delay your decision as little as possible. Remember, while the decision is being made, the weeds will still be growing.
Do not delay the treatment. Delay in treatment, could result in added cost.

Regrowth

Most chemicals used for submersed aquatic weeds, work by destroying only the plant cells that they contact. Systemic weed killers for submersed plants are extremely limited. Regrowth is a possibility. Most labels recommend re treatment of any regrowth. Extremely dense stands of aquatic weeds may inhibit the chemicals penetration to some of the plants. In such cases, 2 or more treatments are often needed. Sound management practices will discourage regrowth, and should become regular maintenance practices.

Preventing regrowth

Chemical controls should be done in tandem with other lake management programs. In low fertility lakes where aquatic weeds are a problem, initial treatment should be followed by raising the lakes fertility, to provide proper algae bloom.

If the water has a “secchi” depth of 18 to 24 inches, light will not be able to penetrate to the bottom of areas deeper than 24 inches, thus making regrowth impossible. The best weed control for a lake or pond is to prevent growth of weeds by bringing balance in fertility.

Sometimes, the opposite problem is the case. Ponds or lake with high fertility due to on site or off site runoff can develop weed problems. Vegetative barriers may be needed to slow the flow of nutrients.

If the lake is very shallow, and nothing can be done to increase the lakes depth, several treatments may be needed. In such cases, scheduled treatments should be considered, and the cost of such treatments should be factored into overall annual maintenance costs.

Guarantees

Most lake weed control specialists will guarantee that they will apply the recommended chemicals at the proper label rate and in the prescribed manner. As a lake owner, you should not expect much more than that from the warranty. Normally this works well, but in the event that some natural, or man made disruption occurs, you should not expect free re treatment from your lake weed control specialist. You would not expect the warranty on your hot water heater installation to cover earthquake damage.

Some things to avoid

Do not apply colorant to a pond or lake that is to be treated for aquatic weed control. The colorant can neutralize the effect of the chemicals used to treat lake weeds.
Do not muddy the water before treatment. Most products made for the purpose of killing or suppressing vegetation are designed to degrade when they come in contact with soil. Soil particles neutralize many herbicides, having them suspended in the water before a treatment may lead to failure.

If the water in your lake is holding a high concentration of soil particles in suspension, “flocking” may be needed before lake weed control treatment.