Whoever came up with the idea that finding a four leaf clover meant good luck obviously wasn't talking about the aquatic variety that invaded our lower pond and has been working its way upstream like an invading army. I don't know how it found its way into the pond in the first place, but I spent a fair amount of time this morning trying to wrestle thick mats of the stuff out of the streambed. Some of the root mats were over an inch thick, and strongly resisted my attempts to pull them out of the rocks. I managed to get most of them out of the streambed by turning off the pump, putting on flip-flops, and wading in the small amount of chilly water which remained. In the process, I rescued a couple of baby goldfish that apparently had washed down from the upper pond and were stranded in the mess.
I haven't begun to tackle the plants growing in the pond itself. That is likely to be much more difficult, messier, and colder because I think I will have to stand on the pond bottom in order to get enough leverage to pry the matted root masses free.
It is an attractive plant, but very invasive and in hindsight, I wish I had taken steps to control it earlier. But then, they're a lot of things in life that are attractive, yet have a tendency to take over if we don't take steps to keep them under control.
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