need help with killing cattails

[sherrie]

Hi there

I am hoping someone can help me. I have a natural pond. It is about 5ft. deep andabout 1`/4 acre in diameter. The problem I have is there are an overabundance of cattails along and growing in the pond. No wildlife can live in the pond as the cattails are so thick.

I spent hundreds of dollars on chemicals in the past two summers trying to get rid of the cattails. Some chemicals that claimed to kill cattails seemed to feed them and the problem got worse. I had pd. someone last spring to clean out the bottom, but cattails came back more than ever.

Can I use bleach? There is no wildlife, I may see a snake or frog once in a while, but besides bugs and flies, nothing else..Im getting desperate to try anything. Please help, Ive already spent so much trying to get it to look at least decent.

 

[shakaho]

I suspect that if there is no wildlife in the pond, it is because of the chemicals, not the cattails. The fact that some of the chemicals made the problem worse suggests that those chemicals killed something that fed on the cattails. Cattails normally support wildlife:

Cattails, which can thrive in either fresh or mildly brackish water, play an important role in wetlands. The intertwined rhizomes and roots help to prevent soil erosion. Being tightly packed, the cattails filter sentiment and pollutants from the water. Although they generally start close to the shore, once the roots are intertwined, a group of cattails can break off and become a floating mat.

A number of creatures depend on cattails for habitat and food. In the Midwest, turtles, toads, snakes, raccoons, cottontails, wild turkeys and even deer are known take cover in them. Frogs and salamanders lay eggs and fish hide out in water among cattails. Insects live on them. Geese, ducks and red-winged nest among cattails in the Gateway Wetlands
.
All parts of the cattail are important to wildlife. Muskrats and beavers eat rhizomes use the foliage in building their homes. Hummingbirds and red-winged blackbirds line their nests with seed fluff. The pollen is important to bees.

 

[Mmathis]

Can you manually pull them out with the aid of a vehicle of some kind? Maybe check with your local wildlife or forestry divisions, or see if there is a university program that could help (if nothing else, for help with manpower). Surely they would be interested in anything that reduces the use of chemicals.