Question: We share the shoreline of a half-acre pond that is about three feet deep at the maximum. It is filled with gooey algae. The shoreline has some cattails and a few other weeds. There are a few fish, but they seem to die whenever we add algaecides. It is a mess. We were told that draining it and dredging it out could cost tens of thousands of dollars. What can we do to clean up this pond naturally?
Answer: Ponds start out deep and then they begin to fill in from leaves and other debris so that they eventually become a marsh and then a prairie or woods. Natural ponds often have an outlet for water to carry excess nutrients out of the pond, adding oxygen to the water and mixing the water from top to bottom.
