From previous posts
From CJBS: There are a good number of marginal plants that will not take over your pond under most conditions and many are beneficial to wildlife as well. Species like arrow arum, pickeral weed, arrowhead, golden club, cardinal flower, dwarf cattail and a number of species of sedges are all species that look nice, shouldn't take over the edge of your pond and are fairly hardy to very hardy.
From Cody: Advice so far is sound. Non-rampant types of introduced plants will compete for food and space against the primary aquatic weed invaders/colonizers which are almost alawys very fast spreaders - rampant types. Proper plants in proper areas provide good habitat and help stabilize the shoreline and sediments. Rampant types grow and spread fast and end up becoming a nuisance quickly and then needing controlled only after a few years.
Here are several links to other discussions here about beneficial plants. Ask about any questions after reading through the topics:
http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=36543&fpart=1http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=173681#Post173681http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=168238#Post168238http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=132478#Post132478http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=183256&fpart=1http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=151774#Post151774http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=103604#Post103604http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=36735#Post36735And lastly from the Archives - Lily Pad topics. Water lilies growing out from shore into water 2-5ft deep will help reduce medium height wave action. Lilies will not grow well along strong wind swept shorelines.
http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=110943#Post110943My Favorite shoreline plants.
Water iris native (Iris versicolor & I.fulva) and all Louisiana iris varieties, Yellow variety spreads too fast IMO by seeds. Yellow water iris could be okay with management in large ponds, lakes.
Sweet flag, regular and variegated,
Spike rush Eleocharis numerous species up to 3 ft tall. I like the shorter species. Best plant for shoreline protection in smaller ponds is IMO the needle or slender spikeush Eleocharis acicularis. It stays short, grows shallow to 12" deep, and grows dense.
Arrow head - Sagittaria several species
Pickerel plant blue is most common
Lizard tail
Marsh marigold smaller clump forming plant with roundish leaves and yellow flowers in very early spring.
Shorter bull rush and sedges Genera: Scirpus and Juncus. Avoid the tall (up to 6-8ft tall) aggressive soft stem bulrush for ponds. Bullrush can grow up to at least 4 maybe 5ft deep and can be good habitat for lake situations.
As CJ noted above dwarf cattail variety is an option. Regular cattails grow too tall and too deep for my preference in ponds. In large ponds and lakes regular cattails are useful.