I've had it with the cattails in my warmwater pond. I erradicated them once before and when I turned my back voila they're back in full force. My brother-in-law and I are having a -ell of a time removing them from my .62 acre pond but we will prevail! My weed cutter and weed rake are getting one heck of a work out not to mention our arms.

From now on they will get zapped with herbicide whent hey start poking out of the water next spring. No if, and, or buts!

Word of warning to those of you who don't know. There is NO just a few cattails just like they is no such thing as just a little bit pregnant! They will try and conquer your pond if you let them! NO MORE!

CB1 :

I had good results with habitat on cattails this summer. I sprayed them with a mid-range mix of it and h2o and soap. If there are not to many you could mix some and paint it on with a brush and avoid spraying. It is not fast but it gets the job done and they have not come back. You do have to be careful around other plants and trees. ewest

Damn straight. Cattails and willows and poplars in my pond are under death sentence, regularly enforced. I pull 'em up when I see 'em or cut 'em off (repeatedly, with extreme prejudice) if I can't get' em pulled out. This has managed to keep them from getting a beachhead to expand from.

There's a small (1/5 acre?) pond a quarter mile from me, went in a year after mine. They spend a lot of effort landscaping around it (it is in their back yard, I honestly thought it was going to be a swimming pool when they started excavating) and putting up elaborate seasonal outdoor displays, but they have never pulled a cattail or a willow since day one. The shoreline is now 50% cattails and 20% willows, and spreading.

I have a question about those *&&%$#$ cattails.
Since my pond is very low right now all of the cattails are out of the water. I pulled a bunch out, roots and all. Got tired so I cut the rest down and they seem to be about dead. Would it be okay to spray with Habitat now that they are cut?

Ewest,

I will probably apply the herbicide with a wet rag by dragging over the plants to prevent overspray. But then again I may do both depending on the situation. I do have some very small spike bullrush that I don't want to kill, and some type of water grass that grows thick around the pond edges that I like. The soap and water sounds interesting but I do have a surfactant I can use.

Pondrookie,

You're better off spraying them when they are NOT cut, so you have more suface area that the herbicide can penetrate. Lots of times (depends on the time of year) if you cut them the stem will grow back just like the grass you cut with a lawnmower. Another thing, just cutting off the exposed plant leaves the rhizome, and new shoots will come up. You need to apply a herbicide that penetrates the leaves and stems and works its way to the rhizome to kill the whole plant(s). Many of the plants can be interconnected at the rhizomes. They not only reproduce by the seeds, but by the rhizomes (runners). They are a very hardy prolific plant. I've seen them grow back at least 10 inches in one day after I cut them. Moose antlers when in velvet are supposed to be the fasters growing living material. I think cattails have them beat.

Theo's method of just pulling and cutting works fine if you don't have a lot and you can stay on top of them, and of course you don't mind doing so. However the herbicide is more permanent and too me much easier.

I hate to tell you this, but your pulling was probably in vain. If any roots broke and didn't come out entirely, they will spring up again next year.

We have experimented on a very small test area with a weedburner with good results.

The small patch tested within a larger population appear to be dead at this time.
We are in a "no-burn" area due to extreme drought conditions and will test further when conditions improve.

Will dried cattails exposed due to low water, return with normal water levels?

George Glazener
N.E. Texas 1/4 acre and 2 acre ponds

My thoughts on cattails are somewhat different...and necessitated by a desire to avoid chemicals.

If you remove the soil they prefer, you will never have cattails. They prefer loose rich humus soil. If you remove, and granted that is not always possible nor easy, soil to the clay you will never be plagued with them again...at least until your muck builds back up after several years.

Pondrookie, if you can get a back-hoe in there while the water levels are down and remove that humus to the clay, you will solve your cattail problem....at least it works for me and no chemicals.

Cecil, your story is discouraging. A couple of years ago you posted about digging up your cattails. When I got them, I did the same and they haven't come back.

I thought you had all the answers. My bubble is burst. Please say it ain't so.

A California story: I dug them out with a big backhoe, I cut them and slashed them, I burned them in the winter - 50 foot flames, really scary!!! I poisoned them and cut and burned them some more. Spent more money than I care to think about. I now live with them and keep a small area clear for access. My pond is healthy and still producing very large bluegills and most recently a 27" LMB. Don't know what it weighed, but it was real heavy and is still swimming in the pond. I guess the bottom line in some ponds is that you may only be able to exercise a certain amount of control of them. Plus side is that they offer great hiding spots for the fry and they are great water purifiers. Good luck all!

That must have been when I had the pond "dipped" with a track excavator. It did work for a while but that was quite a mess and the excavated soil had to sit around for a while before the excavator came back and spread it out so I could reseed.

I too pulled mine (last year) and NONE came back. Where the ground was to rocky to pull, they haven't been able to noticably spread.

You can come trap a nutria from my pond and they will do the work for you. They can mow them down in a matter of days. then you just have to deal with them like I am having to.

I may be nuts, but I just spread cattail seeds on about 1/4 of the shoreline of my newly enlarged pond (1A now). My main worry right now is with heavy rain washing the raw dirt into my pond. I spend some time every spring cutting back emerging cattails on about 1/2 the shoreline, and they usually stay back for the rest of the year. The other half of the shoreline is wildlife domain. The cattails provide protection and breeding ground for minnows and other little fish, and the bass know it. They patrol the edges and pounce on their prey.

As the un-seasoned rookie in the presence of pond-Lords, please forgive my plea to return to fundamentals. Are there depths of water where cattails can no longer exist? I am very interested since my upcoming project will have shallow areas.

I never see cattails embedded in water deeper than about 18 inches. I'm not sure if my pond is a good representation since my water levels fluctuate wildly during the year.

In favorable softer bottom soils, I commonly see cattails growing in 3 ft of water depth.

I'll bet Bill's numbers are more representative of typical conditions than mine. My water level drops 5-6 feet during the winter and takes until first of July to fill. I think my cattails are in a constant state of shock.

I've actually seem them in at least 5 feet of water and sticking out another three feet or more. Don't underestimate these plants. They could make it on the moon.

I had an isoltated row in about 5 feet of water that I ended up spraying and then cutting off. They never came back. Downside was it was a big bluegill magnet.

I am with CB1 on the @#*&%+*^ cattails. Not only will they grow out from shore they will create their own shore (matted roots and old stems) from which to grow out further. In addition they will spread around to other shallow water by seeds floating on the water until they find a spot to root. I will find other plants like pondweed to help the fish. ewest

Uh oh, not sounding so good on the water depth thing. I was kinda operating on the "no weeds after about 48" and deeper" theory. Sounds like cattails are in a cat-egory of their own. So, what does the rook' do in preparation to fight this menace? My shallow areas have only been cleared of timber and are comprised of run-off silty topsoil for about 3 - 4 feet, then clay. My plan is to keep the shoreline sharp at about 3:1, 4' deep at the perimeter, sloping to about 6' deep average (this is in an area of about 1 acre). (I planned to cut in some bottom-scaping in this area...perhaps a shelf or two parallel to the shore as the bottom runs off deeper?)

My experience with cattails is limited to Ohio. As an aquatic applicator we have managed them for some years with very good results with varied means. As far as water depth and soils go 3-4 ft seem to be the max and 1 ft of water common and spreading up shore lines several feet is common also.I have them in poor compacted soils and loose rich soils but shallow water always seems to be key. I have had customers try to dig them out with backhoes and skid loaders only to suppress them for a season or so. I find most herbicide failures due to wrong timing or wrong if any surfactant used.Glyposate(roundup) type products often are sprayed prior to full leaf elongation and seed head formation and usually does not kill the below ground portion with this mistiming.Cutting off the above water or ground portion within 4-6 weeks after spraying is also a problem. In the midwest spraying late in the fall with any product and getting a good frost or freeze within 4-5 weeks will also allow new growth next season.Also cats usually have mature plants and young plants growing side by side and is difficult to keep spray off of the young ones and this leads to regrowth later in the season. The window for glyphosate is kind of narrow. Diquat products (Reward, Weedtrine D) can be sprayed anytime you see green tissue but you will have to stay on them as more are usually going to emerge soon. This is our first year with a Habitat label from BASF in Ohio and we have about 3 acres of cats sprayed to observe the longterm effect. We also have Habitat sprayed beside glyphosate in the same pond for regrowth comparison next spring. Varied rates of Habitat(2-3 and 4 pt per acre) and different surfactants (nonionic vs veg oil MSO) are also sprayed to compare.The AI in Habitat for you soybean farmers is very similar to Pursuit and the type of surfactant is critical to the weed target in soy production so will see if it is a factor on cats.We manage some ponds where the owner wants them in certain areas only and I think they are fairly easy to keep contained,key being to stay on top of them with whatever method you use.The biggest failure I have wittnessed is wanting Amurs to have an effect, most know they arent going to be a factor but do see from time to time pond owners overstocking Amurs in hopes they will work on the cat population.Have not had it work to date.Lastly I get calls 3-5 weeks after we have sprayed any product that some cats are turning brown and some of the same visual maturity are not.Some are just tougher than others and may be the difference in which are male and which are female, Im guess'n the females are the tough ones,how bout you. Everyone have a great Thanksgiving and as always "Good Luck" Ted

Habitat is the herbicide to use along a pond edge if you want to denude the edge. Cattail, willow, grass and practically every other plant will be affected, and the control seems to span months. In early summer, I applied Habitat to the pond edge and around seldom used farm equipment. No regrowth of any plant species has occurred. While Habitat acts more slowly than glyphosate, the end result seems more dramatic. I don't know how mats of pondweed, smartweed, water primrose or waterlily would be affected, but I certainly wouldn't expect plant survival.

Habitat is relatively expensive but well worth the price if you want absolute plant control.

I agree. I used Habitat last summer on several types of plants. It worked well on cattails -- all dead and no reemergence so far. It also took out the willows and a small patch (2 x 2 ft) grass at the boat landing (oooppps ). It has not worked well with the pondweed and it is not labeled to do so. If will flat kill a long list of trees and weeds and grasses so be careful and read and follow the instructions. ewest

Yes, the depth for your pond depends on clarity of your water, and how deep the sunlite can penetrate. To keep the cattail zone as narrow as possible, make the banks steeper. For my needs, I like going as flat as possible to the water's edge, so I can easily use a lawnmower. Than go steep to limit the band of cattails, to about 3 feet. I have lot of suspended clay, so that is deep enough, and just about the right depth for the bluegill beds. Of course, than there is the 2 ft level drop between summer and winter...

Well my pond may be an exception but I would swear on a bible I had them originally growing in five feet of water!

My best method for managing cattails is prevention. Whenever I see the first one or two plants they come out. For complete control, I think the trick is to pull out the first one or two early invaders. The first invading cattails ALWAYS begin growth at the waters edge or only a couple inches deep. Obviously this means patroling the shoreline on a monthly basis. Pay attention to what is growing along the shore while you are harassing the fish. A walk around the pond perimeter is good excercise.

I have just reread all this and am belatedly adding the fact that my cattails have been easily curtailed to the list of things I am thankful for.

I have mixed emotions about cattails.

They are a fish magnet and good cover for forage fish – however, I’ve yet to convince my son of this fact and he’s the one that has to do the hard work to control them….

I am concerned that GC and tilapia will over-control the pond vegetation, but with this years explosion of pond weed, now well controlled, maybe not…

I guess I’m swimming against the tide – but I think they add a natural look to a pond, as long as they are restricted to local shallow water areas – which they are.

Restricts fishing from the pond bank in some spawning areas, which may not be all bad.

Does anyone else share this opinion?
George Glazener

George, I think you are right on target, One persons desireable plant is another ones pesky weed.I have had days where we removed them from one pond for a customer only to plant them in another pond the same day.Cattails will not over run a pond overnight, like Bill states keep an eye on them and they are fairly easy to keep under control.If they are out of control to start seems to be some good ways posted to get them under control.

George :

I agree with your thought process/conclusions but have different facts in our ponds. With little bank fishing and remote location and larger ponds and limited shallow water the cattails are just to invasive to stay. Manual removal alone could get to be to big a job quickly so I opt to keep them out altogether. I do like the way they look and would let them grow in the proper pond/place. A few came up at one pond and we liked the visual effect so they were allowed to overwinter and summer. That was a mistake as they spread to many locations with the potential to take over to high a % of the shallow water spawning area. ewest

Hello, Everyone. I'm new to this forum. I recently acquired property with an eight acre lake on it. Cattails have taken over 85% of the shoreline and form a six foot deep band in some places so thick you can't get to the water. Would like to start by removing cattails completely near the house and docks and proceed from there. Winter season now. The cattails have turned brown. When pulling them, the plants break easily and no longer pull the bulbs or roots out. I just bought an underwater weed rake/cutter. I've read mixed reports here. Will cutting the plants underwater at this time of year help keep them from coming back? Tempted to have them dug out with an excavator but that huge job would disturb the bank edges so much. Dogs drink the lake water and we swim in it in the summer-- reluctant to use Habitat for those reasons... Ideas? Thanks. --Gadgetnut

Gadgetnut :

Habitat is approved for aquatic use and livstock use and swimming are not restricted , see the label link below pg.3 which so states. Those concerns should be ok. We use our ponds the same way as you and no problems as long as you follow the label. IMHO with that many cattails you will have a hard time with them unless you use a chem. treatment or a backhoe to dig them up. ewest

http://www.willapabay.org/~coastal/nospartina/control_program/HabitatLabel.pdf

Ewest,

Who can we order Habitat from and does it require a surfactant? I'm not seeing it in any of my catalogs.

Cecil, I realize this one was not directed my way but try Aquatic Controls Matt Johnson 800-753-LAKE in Indiana for Habitat as they service Ohio,Indiana,Ill,Ken,Miss and yes it needs a surfactant, Comes in quarts or 2.5 gallon for the big problems.Lists for approx $71.25 per qt.They are listed in TheBoss.

gadgetnut,

A different view....if money is not a major issue, then go with the excavation. Don't just get the cattails however, go to the clay removing all the muck and sediment that cattails love to live in. That should solve the problem long term so that any future uprisings could be handled by spot treatments. I'm not a pro on this topic, just a pond lover like you that does not use chemicals unless it's a last resort. I fear that the chemical approach, while it will work one season, will need to be re-applied again and again over time. If cost is an issue, chemicals may be your only choice, however.

Doing the excavation will, in addition, make your pond much more usable for all kinds of activities.

CB1 :

Ted gave you the answer. I agree. One quart will kill a lot of cattails and willows and other plants. I estimate an acre. I did not use a commercial suff. but sprayed a mix of soap + water + habitat on the cattails in a mid-range application and was very cautious about what was sprayed. It worked well but probably would work better with suff. Also I was treating a small area of cattails about 100 squ. ft.( 50 x 2 ) along the dam and a few small patches here and there around the pond. Also some willows which it also worked well on. It worked and just in time before they spread further. As stated earlier be careful as it will kill a lot of plants ,grasses and trees. ewest

gadgetnut, ML offers you the best of both ways as the longterm control on cats is yet to be seen in real world conditions.You may get 75-90 % with a track hoe and as ML suggests get rid of years of organic matter and deepen the shallow areas some. Obviously this will cost more money in the short term but consider how long you plan on having this pond and it may cash flow better using the average year cost basis vs a onetime hit.Lets say you go the Habitat route and had 2500 to 3000 ft total shoreline to treat at a 10 ft band(again this is a guess based on 8 acres)you would only be treating between .6 and .7 of an acre total, About $100.00 for Habitat. Be sure any products used are labeled in your state.Good Luck