Getting rid of cattails

[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.............