Cattails in Pond

[TomWAiken]

Fishman, thanks. Rodeo looks like the best bet. Expensive but I only have a one acre pond.

 

[VinNB]

A guy down the road from me has a pond and he had a bad cattail problem. A couple of years ago he decided to get rid of them. what he did was let them grow up untill the head started to form and he cut them off under water so they would drown, even if the water level dropped. It has worked good for him. His pond has been cattail free ever since.

 

[TomWAiken]

That sounds too easy. I've cut them before but not under the water. I'll experiment this year with an area of Rodeo and an area cut under the water as you say and let you know. If it works for me it sure will be less expensive.

 

[rekees]

Tom

I bought a farm last year that has a 2 acre pond. The previous owner actually liked cattails so she just let them grow for 13 years. The result was a pond completely surrounded by cattails from the shore extending 10-20 feet out. I hired a guy with a trackhoe to dig them out. He dug deep enough into the muck so they will not grow back. That's the secret....they wont grow in water over 3-4 feet deep. It cost me around $500 which I think was worth it to permanently fix a big problem like that. In previous posts chemicals were mentioned but I didn't think that would be prudent since the pond is our drinking water source.

By the way, if you do get it dug out remember that the muck has to be dumped somewhere. I just had it dumped over the dam. The guy said it takes 1-2 years for muck to dry out. He's coming back with a dozer to level it out when it's dry enough.

Chuck in IN

 

[TomWAiken]

I was concerned about mudding up the water and killing the fish. Did you have any problems getting the water to clear up?

 

[gerard]

I wouldn't worry about the mud, it'll settle out.

 

[rekees]

I was also concerned about muddy water but it cleared up in a week and there was no fish kill. The pond is 2 acres and 30 feet deep so that probably helped to delute the muddy water quickly. However, a smaller or shallower pond could be a different story?

Chuck in IN

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>The pond is 2 acres and 30 feet deep</font color=blue>

Dang, Chuck! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif What's the story on that hole? Left over from your nuclear-testing days? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[rekees]

Gee Harv, sure hope not since it's the drinkin' water hole!

Chuck in IN