Kathy,I usually see this type of floating crud on the surface of my ponds in springtime, as the pond warms up. These dirty looking clumps of algae floating to the surface, is usually caused by the air/oxygen present in the algae, that lines the bottom and sides of the pond, expanding with the heat of the day. At night when it cools off and the algae sinks back to the bottom. I have never tried using any chemical treatments to get rid of it. I find that netting it out during the day time, with a fine weave net, can reduce the amount. Or if you have [or you install] a skimmer in your pond, it should pick most of it up during the daylight hours. Vacuuming the sludge from the bottom of the pond will also help the situation. If you pick it up with your fingers, you will notice that it breaks up into nothing, so fine filtering material is what is needed to trap it. Pumping or skimming the water from the surface, through quilt batting and back into the pond will eliminate it. Any of these methods have to be done over a few days until all the crud is picked up. The batting will have to be replaced or washed out frequently as it plugs up fast. I don't think you can stop it happening again in the future. Algae will grow on the bottom and sides of the pond continually, unless you are willing to constantly vacuum it off. This build up of algae, will eventually let loose and float to the surface, as the weather and temperature conditions dictate. Has your weather been cool then hot, back and forth like that? The fluctuations in the water temperature, seem to bring it on, as far as I can determine. That is why we normally see it in the spring around here, with one day warm and the next back to cool. "Horton"

Hey there. I don't know what the temps are in your area. The cure doesn't always seem to work under 50oF according to the info I got. Water fleas are also called fish lice and can be a very serious problem for comets and koi. The leeches seem to be a gastronomic treat for the fishies though I would be willing to deny them this delicacy without a qualm but I don't see any site that recommends a particular treatment for the leeches. The medications I had the best luck with are Dimlin and Anchors Away. One of the aquarium stores here uses Clout. The usual information is for treating the fish and the pond water but it should work on the plants as well. Sandy

I used to use the Avon SSS on both myself and my show animals! They do make one that has sunscreen and bug repellent in it but I haven't been able to get it at the flea markets anymore. I tried a natural spray on repellent from Tractor Supply but I swear when I got to the garden to start working I was attracting all kinds of wasps including the black and white ones that bite really bad so I never used it since. I am very sensitive to Deet so I have to use the lowest content which doesn't last very long. I also noticed several years ago that I was burning the plants in my big pots by the door when I sprayed down at the landing before going out. So I go out further away from the flowers before spraying but I see the tips of the grass are now burnt there too. I tried to sit out for a few minutes last evening to watch the sky to see if we had any bats but I got bitten so bad I scratched for over an hour even with alcohol rub and antiitch cream. We have a large creek (anyone from somewhere else would call it a river) right in front of the house. I bet that repellent clothing isn't cheap and how long would it last if you washed it?

Suckers are from invading roots. Roots come to where there is water and fertilizer. Presto - in your garden! For any given season, the main strategy is to dig the roots up. For longer term, some kind of underground barrier would be necessary if the owner of those roots isn't eliminated. One of my beds is not far from a heritage live oak, and suckers from those roots come up regularly. I just deep-dig the bed every year, and try not to worry about the suckers that survive. For live oaks in particular, there are no repellants, hormones or chemical sprays that suppress or remove the suckers without harming the mother tree. By the way, at least for trees that push up suckers, note that the root system can be huge. Often, the spread of the root system is more than the height of the tree. So you may be dealing with a tree a ways away.