Cattails are a everyday occurrence within many North American settings, most especially occurring in or around ponds, and at first appearing fairly harmless. Initially you might see such a plant and think nothing of it. You might just think that same thing the next day, and the day after that, and maybe several days following that, till that definitive day you peer out the window, and the whole pond has been taken over to the point in which you require an air-boat to get through it like you’re living in the everglades.
So, now that you’ve been invaded by the cunning army of the cattail, what kind of counterattack can you mount? Will you rally the army and run in with guns (or pesticides) firing at will? Or will you choose guerrilla tactics? That is totally for you to decide, because regardless of what method you decide on, those cattails are not sentient, therefore they will not see you coming, indicating that you’ll always have the element of surprise. That also entails that you can probably take off that camouflage and remove the paint from your face. Those binoculars and gas mask likely won’t be required either.
The choices available to you are many in the area of cattail removal, and of course, since the pond is yours (unless for an unknown purpose you have decided to attack the neighbor’s pond), you are free to pick any of these techniques:
Physical Removal of Cattails – You are of course, free to attempt pulling the cattails up by yourself. If you do that, attempt to pull them when they are young, lest they gain strong roots and become very hard to pull. This will additionally become a huge chore, since around the time that you start eliminating them, odds are they’ve now taken over the pond, and there’ll be a ton of them.
Cutting – You can chop down the cattails, but keeping mind that it’s smart to cut them somewhere around an inch below the water line so you’ll starve them of oxygen and kill them.
Lowering the Water Line – Cattails, like any other living creature, need water to live. Through reducing the pond’s water line, and making sure that the plants do not receive all the things that they require, you will find that they die out pretty fast, unless of course they’ve already spread their seed, in which case you’ll need to do it all over again the next year. If you have no problem with manipulating the water line in the pond every single year, then that will be a viable option for you.
Pesticides – A last resort, because pesticides may hurt any organic life in the pond, which would cancel out the reason for owning the pond. However, you can continue purchase any pesticides that you require from stores, or online. Only don't forget the risks.
Keep another thing in mind, you may think these cattails are a major problem and you have to eradicate each and every of them, however take note that cattails serve to prevent erosion, and that’s definitely a good thing. So try to leave at the very least a couple of them standing, since every creature (wasps not included) has a reason for living, even though the purpose is unknown.
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