Getting rid of cattails

[jymbee]

^

You don`t mention the size of your pond. If it isn`t very big just pull the cattails out by hand - it is surprisingly easy to do. I don`t like leaches attaching themselves to my body so I wear long rubber gloves and hip waders when doing that job.

Indeed. We have a pretty large pond and every few years family members get together and pull 'em out. Some wade in, others work from a large raft. Kids have a ball and as you pointed out, they pull our very easily.

 

[CajunRider]

^

You don`t mention the size of your pond. If it isn`t very big just pull the cattails out by hand - it is surprisingly easy to do. I don`t like leaches attaching themselves to my body so I wear long rubber gloves and hip waders when doing that job.

It's only about 1 acre but I'm not about to get into the pond. There are often gators from near by swamp and show up in my pond overnight. And then there are also the water moccasins, which I don't like much, particularly when I'm stuck in the mud and can't move fast.

 

[keegs]

I cut mine too... using a sickle bar mower. One other thing to consider is that they help to keep the water clean.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I actually used my amphibious ARGO Diesel 8X8 for this task some years back. It still wasn't easy reaching over the side, but it got you right where you wanted to be. Kind of regret that I got rid of it.

 

[bcp]

Getting over-run by cattails is what happens when their natural predators are gone.



Bruce

 

[CajunRider]

Getting over-run by cattails is what happens when their natural predators are gone.

View attachment 507182

Bruce

The gators in my pond are arguably dinosaurs. They won't eat cattails however.

 

[hawkeye08]

My younger brother thought that a slow burn at one end of a 1/3 mile long patch of cattails would be fun. Problem is, the wind shifted and fanned the flames.. 911 operator had dozens of calls since it was close to freeway and they all thought the world was burning. It was going away from freeway and it burned itself out before fire dept got there. I didn't see that one in person but was there for some of the earlier ones and it makes a giant ball of flame and looks like it is going to explode or something..

Fire dept wanted to write my brother up for burning without permit, but declined when he said it would likely cost more than the ticket to get the big fire truck out of the mud (it ventured into the field to get close enough, but fire was done by then). They agreed to call it even and avoid paperwork.


Please note, burning is only temporary satisfaction, they come back stronger than ever...

 

[jimmyj]

We had lots of cattails and one year there was a drought. They all died when the water was too low to cover them. Haven't been any back for 3 years now, weird but effective. Same thing in both the pond and the swamp, they are all gone. You could drain it for a year maybe?

Around here the most common way is to bring in an excavator and clean out the pond. I'd hate to do that as we have so many little critters in there. For general reduction, we got something called a VEEDER, which basically is a big knife that you throw in and pull out, cutting the weeds as you go. That used to keep them back, but the dry spell has been the best so far.

 

[jimmyj]

We had lots of cattails and one year there was a drought. They all died when the water was too low to cover them. Haven't been any back for 3 years now, weird but effective. Same thing in both the pond and the swamp, they are all gone. You could drain it for a year maybe?

Around here the most common way is to bring in an excavator and clean out the pond. I'd hate to do that as we have so many little critters in there. For general reduction, we got something called a VEEDER, which basically is a big knife that you throw in and pull out, cutting the weeds as you go. That used to keep them back, but the dry spell has been the best so far.

 

[CajunRider]

We had lots of cattails and one year there was a drought. They all died when the water was too low to cover them. Haven't been any back for 3 years now, weird but effective. Same thing in both the pond and the swamp, they are all gone. You could drain it for a year maybe?

Around here the most common way is to bring in an excavator and clean out the pond. I'd hate to do that as we have so many little critters in there. For general reduction, we got something called a VEEDER, which basically is a big knife that you throw in and pull out, cutting the weeds as you go. That used to keep them back, but the dry spell has been the best so far.

I know about the veeder but I'm trying to find something that's a little less taxing for my back. I suppose I can pull it out with my tractor but then it's a lot of climbing on and off the tractor.

 

[CajunRider]

I bought a scythe and went at the cattails. I found out quickly how people in the old days stayed lean and strong
I got about a third of my pond bank cleaned out and have a huge pile of mulch material. Once they are cleaned out, scything them to keep them under control would not be hard. It's only a 1 acre pond.

For the next couple weeks, scything will my daily cardio routine. Afterward, I think it will be a once every two week thing.
BTW, the young cattails shoots are edible. They are not that great but not bad either. I'm told they can be eaten raw or cooked. I have only tried it cooked and it was so so.

 

[rekees4300]

"Once they are cleaned out, scything them to keep them under control would not be hard. It's only a 1 acre pond."

How you gonna scythe them when they spread into 4-5 feet deep of water? I also have 1 acre pond and unless you pull them out by the roots (a nearly impossible task) they will continue to spread. Trust me, manual control is a losing battle.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

"Once they are cleaned out, scything them to keep them under control would not be hard. It's only a 1 acre pond."

How you gonna scythe them when they spread into 4-5 feet deep of water? I also have 1 acre pond and unless you pull them out by the roots (a nearly impossible task) they will continue to spread. Trust me, manual control is a losing battle.

Redmax reciprocator. They are made mostly for golf course grooming.

RedMax SGCZ246�S - Reciprocator

I have one and it works great. Unlike in this video, stick the cutter head under water and cut the cattail. Cattails need oxygen to live and have about enough root energy stored up to try and grow out of the water two or three times. Deny them O2 and they die.

 

[LD1]

Did I miss why you didn't want to use chemicals. Round up works wonders. Cut with a little dish soap or commercial surfactant because car tails are waxy. Glyphosphate is what is used in the commercial cat tail stuff. But you pay 2x the cost for it to have a sticker that certifies it "safe" for fish. But it's the same stuff.

I got a 4 gal back pack sprayer from ASC that shoots a 30' stream.

Once dead, a propane weed burner and burn off what is above ground, or rent a mini ex.

The key to minimizing growth is to have properly sloped banks. 2:1 slope is what I have always been told.

Once under control, you have to keep up with maintaining it. Either by spraying Roundup once or twice a year on the green ones, or cut/pull manually. Because once they get away from you, it's alot more work

 

[rekees4300]

Deny them O2 and they die.

I've used a tree limb trimmer as well as Weed Razor to cut them off underwater repeatedly and they just grow back.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jenlis-Lake-Weed-Razer/167890465?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=2018&adid=22222222227047746628&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=146903429991&wl4=pla-256924174280&wl5=9016494&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=113500269&wl11=online&wl12=167890465&wl13=&veh=sem

View attachment 509588

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I've used a tree limb trimmer as well as Weed Razor to cut them off underwater repeatedly and they just grow back.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Jenlis-Lake-Weed-Razer/167890465?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=2018&adid=22222222227047746628&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=146903429991&wl4=pla-256924174280&wl5=9016494&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=113500269&wl11=online&wl12=167890465&wl13=&veh=sem

View attachment 509588

I cut them two or three times while they are underwater and they die.

 

[ning]

AFAIK, they have a pretty extensive root network and the network can continue to regrow if they're cut unless it's deep enough.

My understanding is that you need to keep your pond "deep enough" and they won't grow out in the depths; how deep is deep enough I'm not sure yet, but it's clearly more than my pond. However that's more because my pond is semi-seasonal - if I don't pump water into it, it gets pretty low in the summer (almost dried out last summer - we were about to scrape it when the rains hit in the fall).

 

[CajunRider]

My pond gets deep pretty fast to a 10-12 ft deep so the cattails stay within 3 ft of the bank at most. The pond level goes down about 2 ft or so in the summer. When it goes down, I plan to go in and pull the cattail roots out. I don't use chemicals for controlling weeds or anything unless I absolutely have to. So far I have half of the bank cleaned out of cattails and it takes about 15 minutes for me to trim off any new growth for the half that I've cleaned up. For now, I'm staying chemical free. If it gets out of hand again then I'll do the Roundup + surfactant mix.

PS: My lady sez my wielding the scythe looks badass LOL.

 

[oosik]

CJR - I firmly feel that your mechanical method of cattail control is the way to go. Pulling the roots out in the late summer will have a substantial impact on the overall population - it won't kill them all, because you are bound to miss a few root bulbs, but it will force them to start all over again.

When you start to use chemicals, you will upset the entire ecosystem of the pond. It could quite easily turn into one smelly, stinking mess.

She should get a pic of you in action - so it can be posted here. One BA cattail killer.............