Most people with ponds end up having cattails growing around the edges. Cattails are aesthetically pleasing, adding habitat and flowing green foliage to a pond. That is, until it gets out of control.  In most cases cattails will quickly take over the perimeter of a pond. The pond owner is then in a panic trying to figure out how to get rid of them.

I’m going to tell how to keep cattails under control while still enjoying as much or little foliage as you want.

The first thing to do is purchase a gallon of Reward herbicide and 1 qt. of sidecick from a supplier such as Marlows Fisheries. Your cost will be around $200.   This will last you one to two seasons depending on the size of your pond. Reward is a contact herbicide that is safe to all aquatic life.  In other words, you won’t kill your fish.

In the spring when cattails are actively growing you will want to mix the Reward with water in a yard sprayer. Pick out the area of cattails you want to treat and spray directly on the foliage that you want to eliminate. While trying to reduce any over spray. Within a few days the treated area will turn brown and be dead. Take a weed-eater with a steel blade and cut the dead foliage down at water level.  By spot treating cattails, you can keep them under control while at the same time keeping just the amount  you want around your pond.