Cattails are a frequent occurrence in many North American settings, particularly occurring in or around ponds, and at first appearing fairly harmless. Initially you may see one of these plants and think nothing of it. You might just believe the same thing the next day, and the day after that, and maybe many days following that, till that definitive day you look outside, and the whole pond has been taken over to a point where you require an air-boat to get through it as if you were situated in the everglades.

So, now that you’ve been overrun by the cunning army of the cattail, what kind of counterattack can you mount? Will you rally the troops and go in with guns (or pesticides) firing at will? Or will you opt guerrilla tactics? That is totally for you to decide, because no matter which technique you choose, those plants aren’t sentient, so they will not see you coming, indicating that you will always have the element of surprise. This also means that you could likely take off that camouflage and take the paint off of your face.  The binoculars and the gas mask probably will not be required either.

The options at your disposal are not few for cattail removal, and naturally, since that pond belongs to you (unless for an unknown purpose you’ve decided to do battle with the next door neighbor’s pond), you are welcome to choose any of these methods:

Physical Removal – You are naturally, free to attempt pulling the cattails yourself. But if you do this, attempt to pull them when they’re young, lest they take strong roots and become extremely difficult to pull. That would also become a huge chore, since by the time you start pulling them, odds are they have already taken over your pond, and there will be a ton of them.

Cutting – You may chop down the cattails, but keeping mind that it’s smart to cut them somewhere around an inch under 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 in order to live. Through lowering the water line, and making sure those plants don’t get everything that they require, you will find that they expire rather quickly, that is unless they have already spread seeds, in which case you will have to do this all over again the following year. If you have no issue with lowering and raising the water line of the pond every year, then this would be a realistic option for you.

Pesticides – A final decision, because pesticides can hurt the organic life within the pond, which sort of defeats the reason for owning the pond. Regardless, you may continue purchase any pesticides which you need from both stores, or online. Simply remember the dangers.

Remember this, you may think cattails are a major problem and you have to eradicate each and every of them, but know that cattails serve to prevent erosion, and that’s definitely a good thing. So try to leave at the very least a few cattails standing, since every creature (wasps not included) serve a purpose, even though the reason is not known.