J.D. Stone wrote:

Oh, yeah. I let my lilies jump the pots. The whole bottom is one massive
root system. I am running haalf the volume I used to have.

Oh man! I let the lotus do that in my bathtub pond. It was OK in that
limited span, I think it would be a bit much letting the lilies take over
the big pond.

Stays clear, though.

I bet!

When I decide to clean it up I'll have to do the same thing you
did, again!(don't have any rock lining it though). I did it once before a
few years ago. Had to watch the sludge carefully for the trapped fish.
They fight their way to the surface of the discarded sludge and I'd return
them to the pond, no worse for wear.

Yeah, it's unsightly, and it would be a problem if you had much anaerobic
activity going on, but with lily root systems like that it probably doesn't
happen.
--
derek