Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants cattails

My pond is 4 to 6 feet deep. Will cattails take over my pond?

Cattails prefer water from just constantly wet to about 6" deep but will grow up to about 12" of water. They wouldn't spread out into the depths of your pond. However, they can and most likely will take over all shoreline areas less than 6" deep if left unchecked...

Hopefully some southern members can provide more information. In my area NW Ohio healthy stands of broad leaf cattail (the standard broad leaf species - Typha latifolia vs the narrow leaf species T. angustifolia) will grow up to 6 ft tall out of the water in the shallow areas. Cattails in our ponds will grow into water to FOUR feet deep. The narrow leaf species usually does not grow much deeper than in 15"-24" of water. Broad leaf species are really hard to manually remove once they get into water deeper than 2.5-3ft. Spread will often be determined by the pond bottom conditions. I am not familiar with how cattail growth habits are in southern ponds that do not get ice cover. A good herbicide to eradicate cattails is glycosphate based (Redeo plus an added surfactant or a combo compound is Shore Klear Plus). Best time to spray cattails for best kill is after they form seed heads (Aug-Oct).

Mike, if you want marginal less invasive emergant plants then buy and plant other speices such as Lousiana iris, wild northern blue flag or water iris (Iris versicolor), arrowheads, pickeral weed, sweetflag (Acorus calamus; I prefer varigated), or use some of the shorter species of "wild" native Spike rush (one is needle spikerush). Three square rush (Scirpus americanus) is fairly short up to 2ft tall and does not get real dense (distance between stems) but it spreads fairly fast and can sometimes grow deeper than knee deep.

Wow Bill, I haven't seen cattails grow in water deeper than about 2 feet, but that is rare. We have both broadleaf and narrowleaf but the broadleaf is more common. Maybe I just haven't payed as close attention as to the depth of the water where the cattails are growing though. I'll have to take a second look.

One thing I have noticed is as ponds age and cattails continue to grow along their edges. The dying cattails from season after season add up and leads to a substantial detritus layer. Over time this can allow cattails to spread out into the pond. Cattails also help stop erosion and the soil they stop will build up around them and settle making the water shallower and allowing the cattails to spread out further into the pond.

There's a quite sedate, smaller slower growing form of cattails which is a pleasant choice for the 'look' of cattails, Graceful cattail. Typha laxmanii. Slower spreading, easier to rip out.

Grows about 3' tall, The rhisome grows less than a 1/4" thick.

By comparison the brute latifolia, the rhisome may be 2" thick, growing 8' tall, spreading x20 by rhisome alone.

Year one, one plant, Year two, 20 or so,Year three, 400....
8,000... 160,000 (kiss your lake goodbye)

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l42/adavisus/

I had a couple of cattails come up on the East side of the island. I swam out there this summer to grab them and they were lt least 3' deep. I can reach down 40" and keep my head out of the water enough to breathe, and I had to dive to get them uprooted.

CJ, cattails area pain in the you know what in N.E. Texas.
Our water levels go up and down dependent upon severity of Texas hot summert time droughts.
During one of our severest droughts, the cattails followed as the waater receded, and when the water raised the cattails survived in water up to 4 ft deep.
We had to bring a track hoe to clean them out.

I have found they do best in sandy soil but not a problem in clay.
I hate them.

Guys you're not going to believe this but I've had them grow in at least 4 feet of water and still come out of the water another three feet.

CJ the reason you may not have seen them grow in as deep a water in your region vs. ours may be soil type or as alluded to species?

They are easy to control if they show up with a good systemic herbicide designed for Cattails. Be sure to use a a surfactent though as the leaves are quite waxy.

So if one doesn't want them to take over spray them. Just don't wait until they do take over like I did once!

Before I found PB I controlled them (read killed them with no ill effects to the pond) with Roundup mixed with a non-ionic surficant. Now I realize that Roundup isn't rated for pond use. Why? I have no idea, as other glyophosphate based herbacides are O.K. to use.

Yeah, it may either be a regional thing or I just never paid much attention to it. The one pond in my neighborhood is completely ringed with cattails, mostly the broadleaf variety. They don't grow any deeper than 18" and that is water height at spring flooding. Soils vary greatly in the region but we do have a lot of our famous Virginia Red Clay. Now that I think about it, there is a larger pond near by that does have some cattails growing at a fairly deep depth. Next time I am there I'll have to see just how deep of water they're growing in.

Round-Up is not approved for use in water because it is the surfactant (adjuvant) that tends to be problematic. One good glysophate plus surfactant mixture in one jug is Shore Klear Plus (usu sold in gallon size & then diluted & sprayed) made by Applied Biochemists - the "Aquashade people".

I thought I had read that the dead plants started building up with sediment which over years could make the pond shallower. I love the look of a pond with cattails plus it keeps those wandering fishermen off the pond when they have no place to cast from. Me I have a boat so not a problem. I think it would probably be in my ponds best interest to remove them. I have a very sandy soil and have a feeling they are going to spread quickly. Thanks for all the information !!

Thanks Bill! Now I know. I didn't know that Roundup had a surficant already mixed in.