Transplant Cattails Late in Summer?

[Lisak1]

I assume...

Yeah... I bet not. You WILL find dwarf versions and even MINI dwarf versions, but I can't imagine any pond store would actually inflict these on their customers for planting in a manmade pond.

Cattails serve an excellent purpose in nature. They retain banks of pond to prevent erosion and they are great for filtration in a wetland. Animals love them for shelter. But for a man (or woman!) made pond, you want one of the small varieties.

@brokensword - LOL! We're going to the same church on this subject! As for a tall marginal - I brought home some arrow plant from our neighborhood pond (you can see I take my own advice - haha) and that stuff is now four feet tall. But easy to pull and dies back every winter. Beautiful plant!

 

[mmorris]

@mmorris I would seriously reconsider; our HOA has been battling cattails for over 30 years around a 4 acre pond and where they once were 20' thick, 3/4 the way around the pond, they are now limited (I laugh when I say this) to a stretch of about 100', about 8' thick. And this is with trying to kill them with a chemical every year. You don't really want to do this, imo, unless you can contain the roots and annually double check to see that none have slipped their shackles. If I were going to do this insane thing, I'd put the tubers in large plastic 'mortar pans'. Approx 3' x 2' x 8" deep, and heavy duty plastic. But seriously, there HAS to be another tall marginal you can fall in love with, isn't there???

Going to have to add you to my prayer list, if you continue down this path to Hel....

Isn't it a bit much to tell me I'm going to hel...? I'm not interested in being on your prayer list. Seriously? I don't know who or what HOA is. The question I asked isn't whether they will take over my pond, or whether they will poke holes in my liner.

 

[Lisak1]

Chill @mmorris - @brokensword was joking.

HOA - homeowners association.

So if you only want to know the answer to the question you asked, then yes - go ahead and transplant them anytime you'd like. They'll be fine.

Good luck to you.

 

[addy1]

I had mini cattails, yanked them all they were taking over, now I have a tiny amount in a pot that totally contains their growth. It took a lot of yanking to get all the roots and runners.

Enjoy your cattails they do look neat.