How to Get Rid of Cattails in a Pond or Lake
Use our Cattail & Water Lily Control to tackle your cattail problem and make your body of water useful again! Properly identifying cattails is the first step. Know what happens if cattails are cut, burned, or treated too early in the season. Use an herbicide to kill the plants down to the roots, and then remove the dead plants.
Identify Cattails
Cattail stems grow four to eight feet tall with no branches and each have a dense brown cylindrical flower with a yellowish spike at the top. The flowers bloom through fall before turning into white fluffy masses.
Cattails have flat to slightly rounded leaves that are thin and long. The plants can be partially submerged or in boggy areas with no permanently standing water.
Cattails are Nuisances
Cattails can easily dominate the shoreline of a lake, pond, stream, or river. They are considered emergent weeds because they grow far above the water’s surface.
Though some people like the appearance of these North American natives, their ability to take over and ruin a body of water for any recreational purpose is what drives many people to remove cattails from a shoreline.
What Not to Do
Some people cut these plants back in an attempt at cattail control. We at Lake Restoration do not recommend this, especially in spring, as this may ultimately stimulate the growth of the plants if cut below the surface of the water.
Burning cattails also encourages new and stronger growth. Pulling them out is an option, though labor intensive. Since cattails largely reproduce through their creeping root system, leaving any portion of the root behind means doing the exact same task the next year.
Getting Rid of Cattails is Easy
Killing cattails down to the roots will offer the best control. Late summer to early fall is the best time to treat these weeds for two reasons. They are mature so there’s lots of plant material to get the products onto for maximum absorption. Also, the cattails are getting ready to pull their energies down to the root system to store for winter; this helps pull the herbicide to the roots as well.
We recommend the use of our Cattail & Water Lily Control. Mix the two products together with water in a sprayer. Spray the parts of the plants above the water’s surface and our herbicide will do the rest! The surfactant breaks through the tough exterior of the cattail, and once the herbicide is absorbed, plant growth stops. The herbicide moves through the plant down to the root system to kill the plant and the roots.
Some signs of damage can be seen in as little as two weeks, but it will take up to five weeks for complete plant death. Once cattails are completely brown and crispy, it is okay to cut them down. If not cut, they would eventually decompose on their own, but it would take a very long time.
Cutting the dead plants is a faster way to restore your shoreline and improve navigational access. Because the herbicide gave a complete kill, the cattails won’t grow back the following year.
There are no swimming restrictions after use and the products are safe for fish and wildlife. Always read product labels before using them.
Conclusion
Once you have positively identified the target species, know when to treat cattails and how to kill cattails is key. Do not cut or burn actively growing plants. Spray them with an herbicide and surfactant in late summer or early fall, and a few weeks later, go ahead and cut the dead plants. With a little time and patience, your shoreline will be usable again!