How to Get Rid of Cattails – What Are The Basics?

Cattails are a frequent occurrence within many North American settings, particularly happening in or around bodies of water, and at first seeming rather innocuous. Initially you may see one of these plants and think nothing of it. You may just believe that same thing the following day, and the day after that, and perhaps several days following that, till that one day that you peer out the window, and your whole pond is overgrown to the point where you need an air-boat to navigate it as if you were living in the everglades.

Now that you’ve been overrun by the cunning army of the cattail, what sort of offensive can you mount? Would you organize your troops and run in with guns (or pesticides) blazing? Or will you choose guerrilla tactics? That is completely for you to decide, because no matter which method you choose, those plants are not sentient, so they will not see you coming, meaning that you’ll always have the element of surprise. That additionally means that you could probably get rid of that camouflage and take the paint off of your face.  The binoculars and gas mask likely will not be needed either.

The choices available to you are many for cattail removal, and of course, since that pond is yours (unless for some reason you’ve set out to attack your next door neighbor’s pond), you are welcome to choose any of these methods:

Physical Removal – You are of course, free to try pulling the cattails up by yourself. If you do this, try to get to them when they are very young, otherwise they will take sturdy roots and end up very hard to pull. This would also become a all order, because around the time that you start eliminating them, chances are they’ve already taken over your pond, and there’ll be a lot of them.

Cutting – You can cut those cattails, but remember that it’s smart to chop them somewhere around an inch below the water line so you’ll deprive them of oxygen and kill them.

Lowering the Water Line – Cattails, like anything else, need water to survive. Through lowering the water line, and ensuring that the plants do not get all the things that they need, you’ll discover that they expire rather quickly, unless of course they have actually spread seeds, meaning you will have to do it again the next year. If you’ve no problem with manipulating the water level of your pond every single year, then this would be a realistic option for you.

Pesticides – A final decision, since pesticides can hurt any organic life within your pond, which sort of defeats the purpose of owning a pond. However, you can continue purchase any herbicides that you require from stores, or from online. Only remember the risks.

Keep another thing in mind, you may believe these cattails are a serious problem and you have to eradicate each and every of them, however take note that cattails serve to prevent erosion, and that’s definitely a good thing. Therefore leave at least a couple of them alive, since all plants and animals (wasps excluded) has a reason for living, even if that reason is as yet unknown.