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Canadian Pond Newsletter December 2004 Issue: 1 Vol: 1

INTRODUCTION TO OUR COMPANY
For those of you who do not know us we'd like to take this chance to introduce ourselves. We are located in the Eastern Townships of Quebec in a town called Knowlton. Our company was started over six years ago by Mario Paris, an expert in Canadian fish and wildlife, who began a pond company called Les Étangs P.P.M., using pond construction and maintenance techniques that are more in-touch with environment values. Les Étangs PPM has specialized in the design and construction of ponds that are as natural looking as possible as well as repairing and retrofitting older or poorly built ponds. We have built everything from small ponds of water-garden stature to large 5 acre ponds with cascades, swimming areas and indigenous plants combing to create a natural looking private lake. A sample portfolio of pond projects is here.

We have grown over the years to include a branch of the company , Canadianpond.ca Products Ltd., dealing exclusively with products for the care and maintenance of ponds and aquatic ecosystems. We have chosen the most efficient and cost effective array of aeration systems, natural bacteria strains for water treatment as well as valves and gates for pond water level control. The Internet allows us to offer education, products and services to interested people around the world as well as the ability to network with pond professionals around the world and rapidly become aware of evolving techniques and concepts in pond health. Our growing list of products.

Beyond building and servicing lakes and ponds we also gathered pond engineering experts under a third arm of the company called Ecodesign Akwatec Inc. This firm is better equipped to respond to more technical questions and to provide detailed computer assisted designs and plans for pond construction projects, erosion control projects and the relocalization of rivers and streams. For more information on our pond and lake engineering services visit the newly updated Akwatec.ca website.

The pond newsletter will include information and news releases from all three areas of our company: construction of , products for ponds and the design and planning of ponds and lakes.

A Haiku sent to us by a lover of natural ponds:

pond undulating
dive, ripple, then appear, cooled
canadian pond

Article on Invasive Japanese Knotwood
Article by Antoine Rempp courtesy of www.akwatec.ca

What is this large leaf plant that is hiding the view of the river? Less than ten years ago, it was virtually unknown in this area or rarely seen. Commonly called bamboo or Japanese Knotweed (Renouée du Japon) its Latin name is Fallopia japonica, this invasive species does not belong near our rivers. It originates from the Himalaya region and was introduced a few decades ago as an ornamental plant. Not long after, it started to aggressively replace the indigenous species and now earns its name on the top 100 "World's Worst" invaders according to the Global Invasive Species Database (see www.issg.org for more information).

For those who wonder where to look for it, you just need to find a very broad leaf shrub like plant with a sharp tip at the end that grows very rapidly (see the picture). Its stems have a reddish and hollow character that looks like bamboo, about 1 to 2 cm wide and can grow up to 3 meters tall. The main problem with this plant is that contrary to well known river and brook's problems, it has not reached the public attention yet.

The Japanese Knotweed is by all means a real menace for the stability of shoreline ecosystems. Its inherent capacity to establish itself on poor soil and where shade is present, has allowed it to colonize the shoreline where spring erosion was observed. Since it also thrives along roadways and ditches, it almost seems like a solution to unsightly weeds ! But once established it will prevent all other species to grow and will diminish local biodiversity. Another problem also is the limitation of water access by water users made impossible by the dense green wall of vegetation. It does not prevent erosion since its surface root system is not well developed, although the plant survives deep in the soil in the winter. Excavation will not phase out the Japanese Knotweed as it sprouts back rapidly from its deep shoots. In fact its roots and rhizomes have been observed as deep as 5 meters.

What can we do? It is unfortunately unthinkable right now to hope to eliminate it in the wild where it now rules. Fallopia japonica's growth is extremely fast and its own toxins emanating from the roots prevent any types of vegetation to compete with it. Its capacity to regenerate from a small broken piece of stem or root makes it ultimately super efficient at surviving.

Direct treatments are regular cutting of the young shoots as soon as they reach 50 cm tall which would be three to four times per summer. New shoots can keep growing back even after 10 years of trimming and cutting. Herbicide usage or other chemicals treatments are not recommended since the shorelines can be degraded by eliminating all species at once, especially the indigenous or less aggressive plants.

On the other hand, it is also possible to limit its expansion to the sites that are already affected by keeping an eye on new growth or small patches and by trimming regularly. It is of utmost importance not to plant Japanese Knotweed near water's edge because before long it will replace the natural existing vegetation. Whatever the treatment, the best solution remains to replant bare soil with trees and shrubs like willows alders, ashes and graminoid grasses or sedges to give them a chance to resist the Knotweed rampage.

This sounds a bit alarmist doesn't it? Look around and you too will start noticing its presence along the Missisquoi river and the Sutton river systems. It is time to become actively concerned with its invasiveness and to keep watch while maintaining natural habitats along the eastern townships rivers.
Antoine Rempp, eng. Ecodesign Akwatec inc. www.akwatec.ca

Pond Link of the Month A citizen's guide to lake protection
from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency detailing concerns and solutions for protecting ponds and lakes and in depth strategies for people to take responsibility for the aquatic environments in our local areas..

One of our Current Projects:


This pond in the Eastern Townships was on a picturesque setting but years of accumulating organic material had severely deteriorated the water quality in the pond. The fall is the ideal time to complete such an operation as their is less water entering the pond. The project began by reducing the water level in the pond with powerful gas powered pumps and then we entered the pond with our large mechanical shovel to strategically remove the muck and mud that had built up. We removed an average of one meter of organic sediments from the pond bottom. While the water level was down we also did a reshaping of the banks to make way for the planting of aquatic plants in the spring. We discovered some large buried rocks in the mud which we placed on the banks to make some striking dominant features than really beautify the pondscape. It's always chilly at this time of year but by finishing now the spring will arrive and there will be no major mechanical work to complete.
A sample portfolio of pond projects is here.











Yours truly,
The Canadianpond.ca Team
550 Knowlton Road Suite 200 Knowlton QC
CANADA J0E 1V0 TEL: 450-243-0976 email: info@canadianpond.ca