How To Get Rid Of Cattails??

[Karla]

A friend of mine has a farm pond with fish in it and they have a little paddle boat they ride around in, but the cattails have pretty much taken the whole thing over, so I told her I'd ask on here to see if anyone has a remedy for this?

Thank you!

Karla

[aravenschild]

My ex-brother-in-law spent the summer digging cattails out of a farm pond with a shovel and pick....

[Kittyzee]

Steep sides instead of sloped ones (from run off of topsoil into a farm pond) will usually do the trick.  Most people don't have the equipment or the money to hire a digger.

[PondmaninAL]

Dig them all up and send to me. I can't seem to keep regular cattails growing but miniatures are doing well. I have two right now that haven't died yet. I said,"yet."

[SueSTx]

I have been told by the old timers around home to cut them off under the water line and they won't come back...I haven't tried this.  All mine died out on their own.

[cricket67]

I have them growing wild in my ditch...when u cut them down they grow back even more.....after the hurricane here the city went around to re dig  all the ditches for everyone to have better drainage and now i have even more cattails in my ditch...

[Karla]

That's what we've heard, Cricket!  So sorry about your problems with them!

Sue, that is what someone told her, and that sounds like the easiest way to do it!

Thank you everyone for all your help though....it's really appreciated, and Carol thanks you, too!

Karla

[kitfoxdrvr]

About the only way to get rid of them short of draining the pond is chemically.  Lots of options this way:

http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/emergent_plants/cattail_mgmt.htm

Once established in a natural pond, they are as bad as kudzu!

Long-term, the only way to keep them out is by having a deeper pond, with steep slopes as Kittyzee said in her post; they will not grow in water much over 2-3 feet in depth.

Steve

[turtlemike]

  Cattails have to breath air for the root to survive.  In winter the root breaths through the old dead stem from last years growth. if you cut the old stalk below waterline in fall or winter the root will drown.
  For people who live farther north than Louisiana you can lower your water level a ft or less during the winter. When the pond freezes walk out on the ice and break off the dried stalks by kicking them, or use a lawn mower.
  Then raise the water level and the cattails will drown. the only ones that might survive would be at shoreline above ice level.   But a good deep freeze should kill most of them too.
  until I got a good stand of native spike rush and all kinds of other native water loving plants growing in the shallow water I was constantly puling up cattail seedlings in my new pond from seeds that are always blowing in. Now I NEVER have cattails start from seed.  Cattails seeds are airborne and must land on or float to wet LAND to sprout and grow successfully.  They don't sink in water and grow under water till they reach the surface like lilies do. They MUST start on wet land and grow out into the water.
   My dence spike rush prevents floating cattail seeds from reaching shore year round. Therefor no cattail seedlings and no cattails, except the few I have planted and keep under controll by pulling.