Pond sedge problem

Hello,

I inherited a largish pond when I bought my house a number of years ago. The pond has three patches of what I think is lesser pond sedge. However, this year it all appears mainly brown - though there is still a fair few green healthy looking strands in there. Is this part of it's lifecycle, or is anything up with it?
Any idea how I can tidy of this up?

Btw - new member here - emigree from GW forums. Nice to meet you all!

Many thanks in advance

 

Hi,
The green parts look like this years new growth coming up.
Might have been a good idea to have cut the brown down to the ground before the new stuff had started to grow again.

It could be difficult to remove the dead stuff without damaging the new now.

 

I agree with @pete that the old material should really have been cut down a while back.
However, you might be able to remove some of it -if you have time, and the inclination!
It's worth trying to remove some clumps altogether. If you leave then beside the pond, any wildlife in the clumps will hopefully get back in. It's always difficutl judging these things though.

 

I can probably have a go at pulling out some of the dead material. I might have to put my dry suit on to get at some.of it though!
Is it the end of the world of a lot of it stays this year and I cut it back next autumn?

 

You may find that the clumps come apart quite easily once lifted out of the pond, with the old growth falling away.

We inherited a very overgrown pond when we moved in although our thug was flag iris. Huge clumps, that were hard work to pull out of the pond but then the healthier outer growth pulled quite easily off into smaller clumps.

 

If you put a pair of gloves on and tug at the leaves you can probably remove a fair amount of that thatch. I say wear gloves because on more than one occasion I have had nasty paper cut like cuts which stung like hell.

You don't need to remove any of the dead material if you don't want but it does spruce things up a little. If it is a sedge, and it looks like one, you could even cut it back to the ground and it will regrow fine. It is generally best to remove the old growth before the new growth begins, so end of febuary to early March.

 

Thanks l for the advice. I've managed to thin in out quite nicely now, and it looks a lot more presentable..

I now know for next time when to cut it back. Every day is a school day!

Thanks again!