Cattails are a frequent phenomenon within several North American environments, most especially happening in or around bodies of water, and initially appearing fairly harmless. At first you may see such a plant and dismiss it. You might just believe the same thing the following day, and the next day, and perhaps several days following that, till that one day that you look out the window, and the entire pond has been overgrown to the point in which you require an air-boat to get through it as if you were situated in the everglades.
Now that you have been invaded by the cunning army of the cattail, what sort of offensive will you do? Would you organize your troops and run in with guns (or pesticides) blazing? Or will you opt guerrilla warfare? That is totally up to you, since regardless of what technique you decide on, those plants aren’t sentient, so they won’t notice your approach, meaning that you’ll constantly have the element of surprise. This also entails that you could probably take off the camouflage and take the paint off of your face. The binoculars and gas mask likely won’t be needed either.
The options at your disposal are not few for cattail removal, and of course, since that pond is yours (unless for some reason you’ve decided to do battle with the neighbor’s pond), you’re welcome to pick any of the following methods:
Physical Removal – You’re of course, welcome to attempt pulling those cattails yourself. If you do that, try to pull them when they are very young, lest they gain sturdy roots and become very hard to pull. This would additionally become a huge chore, since around the time that you start pulling them, chances are they’ve already overrun your pond, and there will be a lot of them.
Cutting – You can cut the cattails, but remember that it’s wise to cut them about an inch below the water line so as to starve them of oxygen and they will die.
Lowering the Water Line – Cattails, like anything else, require water in order to live. Through reducing the pond’s water line, and ensuring that the plants do not receive everything that they need, you will find they expire rather quickly, unless of course they have already spread their seed, in which case you’ll have to do this again the following year. If you have no problem with manipulating the water of the pond every year, then this would be a realistic choice.
Pesticides – A final decision, because pesticides may damage the organic life in your pond, which sort of defeats the reason for having the pond. However, you can still buy any herbicides which you need from both stores, or from the Internet. Only remember the dangers.
Keep another thing in mind, you may believe cattails are a serious problem and you have to eradicate all of them, however take note that cattails serve to prevent erosion, and that is a very good thing. So try to leave at the very least a few cattails alive, because all plants and animals (wasps not included) serve a purpose, even if the purpose is as yet unknown.