How to Remove Cattails - What Are The Basics?
Cattails are a familiar phenomenon in many North American environments, particularly occurring in or around bodies of water, and initially seeming fairly harmless. At first you may see one of these plants and think nothing of it. You might even think that same thing the following day, and the next day, and maybe many days after that, till that one day that you look out the window, and your whole pond has been taken over to the point where you require an air-boat to navigate it like you’re situated in the everglades.
So, now that you have been invaded by the evil army of the cattail, what kind of offensive will you mount? Will you rally your army and go in with guns (or pesticides) blazing? Or will you choose guerrilla tactics? That is totally for you to decide, since no matter which method you decide on, those plants are not sentient, so they will not see your approach, indicating that you will always have the element of surprise. This additionally means that you can likely get rid of the camouflage and remove the paint from your face. Those binoculars and the gas mask likely won’t be needed either.
The options available to you are many for cattail removal, and naturally, since the pond is yours (unless for some reason you have decided to attack the next door neighbor’s pond), you are welcome to pick any of these techniques:
Physical Removal – You are of course, free to attempt pulling those cattails yourself. But if you do that, try to pull them when they’re very young, otherwise they will gain strong roots and end up very hard to pull. That will additionally turn into a huge chore, since around the time you get around to eliminating them, chances are they have now taken over the pond, and there’ll be a lot of them.
Cutting – You may cut the cattails, but remember that it’s wise to chop them somewhere around one inch below the water line so as to deprive them of oxygen and they will die.
Lowering the Water Line – Cattails, like anything else, require water to survive. By reducing the pond’s water line, and making sure those plants do not get everything that they require, you will discover they die out pretty fast, that is unless they have actually spread seeds, in which case you will need to do it all over again the following year. If you have no problem with manipulating the water level of the pond every single year, then this would be a viable option for you.
Pesticides – A final decision, since pesticides can damage any organic life in your pond, which would cancel out the purpose of having the pond. Regardless, you may continue purchase any herbicides that you require from both stores, or the Internet. Simply don’t forget the dangers.
Keep another thing in mind, you may think 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 is a very good thing. Therefore leave at least a couple cattails standing, since every creature (wasps not included) serve a reason for living, even if the reason is obscure.