Cattails are a common occurrence in several North American settings, particularly occurring near bodies of water, and initially appearing fairly innocuous. At first you might notice one of these plants and think nothing of it. You might just think that same thing the following day, and the next day, and perhaps many days following that, until that definitive day you look out the window, and your whole pond has been overgrown to a point in which you need an air-boat to navigate it as if you were situated in the everglades.

So, now that you’ve been invaded by the evil army of the cattail, what kind of counterattack will you mount? Would you organize the army and go in with guns (or pesticides) firing at will? Or will you choose guerrilla warfare? That is completely up to you, because regardless of which method you decide on, those cattails aren’t sentient, so they will not notice you coming, indicating that you will constantly possess the element of surprise. This additionally means that you could probably take off the camouflage and remove the paint from your face. Those binoculars and gas mask likely will not be required either.

The choices at your disposal are many for cattail removal, and of course, since that pond is yours (unless for an unknown purpose you’ve decided to attack your next door neighbor’s pond), you’re free to choose any of the following methods:

Physical Removal – You are naturally, free to try pulling the cattails up by yourself. But if you do this, try to get to them when they are very young, lest they gain strong root and end up extremely difficult to pull. That will additionally turn into a all order, since by the time that you get around to eliminating them, chances are they’ve now overrun the pond, and there will be a ton of them.

Cutting – You can cut those cattails, but keeping mind that it’s wise to cut them somewhere around one inch below the water line so you’ll starve them of oxygen and kill them.

Lowering the Water Line – Cattails, just like anything else, need water in order to survive. Through lowering the water line, and making sure those plants do not receive everything that they need, you will discover they die out rather quickly, that is unless they’ve already broadcast seeds, meaning you will have to do this again the next year. If you’ve no problem with manipulating the water line in the pond every year, then that would be a realistic option for you.

Pesticides – A final decision, since pesticides can damage the organic life in the pond, which would cancel out the purpose of having a pond. Regardless, you may continue purchase any pesticides which you require from both stores, or online. Just remember the risks.

Remember this, you may think cattails are a major issue and you have to eradicate all of them, however take note that cattails help stop erosion, and that is a very good thing. Therefore remember to leave at least a couple cattails standing, since all plants and animals (wasps excluded) has a reason for living, even if the reason is still concealed.