Forums36
Topics40,963
Posts557,988
Members18,503
|
Most Online3,612 Jan 10th, 2023
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 8
|
OP
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 8 |
Hopefully this is a simple question. I have about 2 dozen cattails. I want to keep them in control.
How much do they spread by area per year? Just guessing, 2x’s, 3x’s per year?
Hoping for a clear swimming pond.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 13,974 Likes: 277
Moderator Lunker
|
Moderator Lunker
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 13,974 Likes: 277 |
I've always followed the Barney Fife method for cattail control ("Nip it in the bud, Andy!") and completely removed any plants each year.
I have watched them completely take over the shore line of a small (1/4 acre?) pond on my way to work, covering the area about 10-12 feet out from the shore, over a ten year or so period. So I believe they can spread pretty fast.
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever." -S. M. Stirling
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,752 Likes: 33
|
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,752 Likes: 33 |
Control them by removing them. A few becomes a few more then all of sudden you have a mes.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2022
Posts: 59 Likes: 13
|
Joined: Aug 2022
Posts: 59 Likes: 13 |
My pond is about a year old, I have pulled any young cat tails I have found growing around it. Earlier this summer, I noticed one pop up in a wet area on the other side of my barn, approximately 70 ft away. I decided to watch it's growth and progression since it was a good distance from the pond. The original growth got to full size, but had not grown a seed head yet. As of 2 weeks ago, there were 6 other new growths that shot out from the original rhizome. At that point I decided enough was enough with the amount expansion it created and hadn't even sprouted a seed head yet, I pulled all those suckers up. As others have said, tight, early control or they will quickly get out of hand. Those smaller ones are way easier to pull too!
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 46 Likes: 1
|
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 46 Likes: 1 |
When my pond was new I also got a couple of fainting goats. When the Cat tails sprouted i pulled them and fed them to the goats, they learned to eat them. 5 years later and not a single one
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,750 Likes: 295
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
|
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,750 Likes: 295 |
In my neighborhood retention pond, we used to have cattails. At first, it was just a few clumps of them around the perimeter of the pond, and those clumps steadily grew larger. At that point, I'd manually remove a good chunk of them from each clump; they were easy to pull, and not too deep into the water.
Sometime later, a family of muskrats moved into the pond, and within a short amount of time. all the cattails were gone. Not a single cattail in the pond nowadays.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 1,137 Likes: 276
|
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 1,137 Likes: 276 |
Cattails = MEWS: Muskrat Early Warning System
When I see them getting chopped down and spread about I know it's time to go hunting for the muskrat.
|
|
|
Moderated by Bill Cody, Bruce Condello, catmandoo, Chris Steelman, Dave Davidson1, esshup, ewest, FireIsHot, Omaha, Sunil, teehjaeh57
There are no members with birthdays on this day. |
|
|
|