Removing water lily leaves and flowers

KT53

I've just been catching up on my reading of GW magazine.  In one of the advice sections it says to cut off old water lily leaves and flowers.

Many moons ago I worked in a garden centre where we also sold ponds and pond plants.  There, we were advised by the water lily supplier that 'spent' flowers and leaves should always be pulled gently but firmly to remove them from the base, as that minimises the risk of disease.

hogweed

I always waited until they were dead enough that I could catch them with the fish net. 

KT53

philippa smith2 said:

KT53 said:
  There, we were advised by the water lily supplier that 'spent' flowers and leaves should always be pulled gently but firmly to remove them from the base, as that minimises the risk of disease.

I've always done it the same way - if you tug gently and they don't come away cleanly, then you leave them a bit longer.
It's always a good idea to check the undersides of the leaves too as a choice place to lay eggs .

That's exactly what we were told to do.  In GW it actually shows them being cut off.

KT53

philippa smith2 said:

I don't watch GW these days but it does seem rather poor advice to give on a gardening programme.

It was in the GW mag, not on the TV programme, but the comment is still valid.