Finally, the answer to lily pads

Lily-Hammer Mat™ — Beat Your Lilies!

Lilies are lovely — until they take over and make it impossible to use and enjoy your beach. Lilies foul boat props, they’re hard to wade in and you can’t swim through them.

If you’ve tried clearing lily pads, you know the problems. You cut the pads and stems off at the bottom and they just grow back thicker.

Then you learn you have to cut their roots under the muck to stop them. If you’ve tried cutting lily pad roots — you know what a nightmare it is.

And if you do nothing, the lily pad patch just gets bigger.

You may have heard, “You can’t cut lilies, they’re protected.”  Or, “It’s illegal to pick lily flowers, you’ll get fined if you’re caught.”  This is NOT TRUE. Lilies are not protected, (the American Lotus is), pick all the flowers you want. If your lilies are taking over, they’re likely the invasive, fragrant water lily, or frogbit   or water chestnut, (not the kind you buy at the store). Native lily pads, like arrowhead tend to behave, not spread — and they’re delicious!

Yes, you have a right to clear lily pads

Waterfront owners have the right to enter and exit their lake or river, therefore you  have the right to a clear path to open water. The legal term is “right of ingress and egress.” However, some states limit the width you can clear. Lily-Hammer sizes (6’x14 or 9’x14’) make it easy to conform to any regulations.

How a Lily-Hammer — hammers your lilies!

Simply place it over the lilies you want to remove. Lily-Hammers block sunlight, preventing lilies from conducting photosynthesis — and they die. Lily-Hammers are made of super-strong geotextile fabric on rugged aluminized-steel frames that holds the fabric on the bottom.

You may want to use temporary weights on top of your mat to help compress the lilies at first. Flat patio pavers or small sandbags work great. You can remove the weights later if you want.

Lilies have more structure than other aquatic weeds. Most weeds die and decompose in four weeks. Lilies takes longer to decompose — about eight weeks.

Where the name ‘Lily-Hammer™’ came from

The 1994 Winter Olympics were held in Lillehammer, Norway. It was the year of the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding drama, an alpine skier named, “Peek-a-boo” (Picabo) Street, and 5-time Olympic gold-medalist speed skater, bad to the bone Bonnie Blair. The US and Canada each won 13 medals. Norway won 26 medals.

I always thought Lillehammer was an awesome, Viking-sounding name. In the 1990s I was battling lake weeds like everyone else. I’d say, “I need a lily hammer, to beat on these damn lilies!”

Although the Lily-Hammer is a mat, not a hammer, it beats lilies, guaranteed.

Lily-Hammer or LakeMat Pro?

We’ve controlled lilies with LakeMats since 2010, and they work great. But Lily-Hammers have some new advantages to consider.

More convenient size

A Lily-Hammer is 6’x14’ (XL version is 9’x14’) which should conform to any state regulations you may have — and they’re much easier to move around, (the smallest LakeMat is 12’x14’).

Lily-Hammer supports you on mucky bottoms

A Lily-Hammer supports you walking on muck — where lily pads grow. LakeMats aren’t made to support weight.

The fabric is different

Lily-Hammer fabric doesn’t absorb water, LakeMat fabric does. When it’s time to move it, or clean sediment off your mat, a Lily-Hammer moves through the water much easier and sediment washes off faster.  If you ever need to take it out of the water, a Lily-Hammer weighs the same because there’s no extra water-weight. A LakeMat Pro is about four times heavier than its dry weight when it’s wet.

All our mats, MuckMat Pro, LakeMat Pro and Boatlift Mats will effectively control your lily pads, but the Lily-Hammer is the easiest to use.