I purchased an "Umbrella Plant" (Cyperus alternifolius “Gracilis) when I first built my pond. The roots loved pulling nutrients out of the water and I found myself having to repot this thing every year. In addition, it drops seeds and I found volunteers popping up everywhere. I eventually grew tired of it because it was high maintenance. I tossed it out about 5 years ago. Today I saw three of these plants growing outside of my pond in the paths around the pond.....

I've got other pond plants I don't recommend but I thought I would get off my soap box and allow someone else to share about their problem pond plants....

I had a problem w/ the mini cat tails(Typha Minima)............not the seeding part but the multiplying in the pots too fast part. They are very hard to get apart when compacted together. I got rid of them all but I see there is one in with my Pickeral Rush(another compacting one that I may get rid of also) that I missed. I may try to separate it from those and put it in a pot by itself and just keep a real good eye on it and make sure it isn't allowed to compact together like in the past(really my fault, not the plants). But if they don't behave they will be evicted.

Blue-Eyed Grass(Sisyrinchium montanum bellum)have seeds that can spread along the sides of your pond in the dirt but they are easy to pull if they get outta hand and they can for me if I don't keep an eye on them.

I will never ever plant Mexican Feather Grass(Stipa tenuissima) again as long as I live. That stuff spreads by seeds like crazy and the wind blows it everywhere and that's the way it is w/ a lot of ornamental grasses that are planted including Weeping Brown Sedge (Carex flagellifera). That last one has been coming up in my veggie garden for years and I pull it every time I see it rear it's ugly little head.

We have the umbrella palm also. But, in zone 5 I don't think it will survive the winter. I plan on getting another in the spring along with the papyrus cause they lend a tropical look to our mid western backyard habitat. I don't think that they will self-sow here. I don't want too many self-sowers in our yard as they can get out of hand. Northern-oats grass comes to mind...beautiful grass but rampant self-sower

I have had nothing but trouble with the parrot feather that was given to me last spring. At first they spread real nice and created good cover for the three Cascadia frogs that transplanted in to my pond, (I should say yard). The parrot feather is quite nice to look at, but I no idea the rascals were secretly sneaking around and dropping roots in to every other pot that came close to. Quite intusive they are, Yoda would say. So this year everything is being re-potted so that I can remove what parrot feather roots that I can find.

Happy ponding,

Rich

I love Parrots Feather and I hope mine keeps multiplying. It's about the only plant that looks nice floating around that the fish don't eat. I guess it doesn't bother me if it anchors itself in my pots. It's pretty easy to just pull out and throw back into the pond

JW,

Since my last posting, (a few hours ago) I transplanted all of my pond plants. Water lilies, mini cat tails, purple pickeral weed, and the horse tali rush. Then I remembered that I promised some parrot feather to the koiguy, (at Garden Ponder Forum). I'm quite certain that I didn't get all of the roots and the parrot feather will pop up some where in my pond.

Happy ponding,

Rich

we had quite a bit of parrots feather in our pond last summer...I'm just wondering if any of it survived the winter here. I see the anacharis down at the bottom and think at least some of it has survived. No sign of the parrots feather though, but it did spread pretty quickly so I can see how it could become a problem