Cattail Control
Thanks to Tom Biebighauser for providing the info on this page! Tom is a Wildlife Biologist & Wetland Ecologist and is the Founder of Wetland Restoration and Training LLC.
Cattails and wetlands go together like peanut butter and jelly!
- Cattails provide critical habitat to a diversity of dragonflies, waterfowl, wading birds, frogs, toads and salamanders.
- Hummingbirds build their nests using the fluff from cattails.
- Muskrats eat cattails and build their houses from cattails.
- These muskrat houses are then used by geese, waterfowl, and swans for nesting.
- Redwing Blackbirds and Yellow Headed Blackbirds depend on cattails for nesting.
However, cattails are an early and aggressive colonizer of newly restored wetlands. I’ve found it sometimes necessary to control cattails for a few years until a diversity of native aquatic plants becomes established in a wetland. Think of planting native wildflowers, it’s often necessary to reduce the numbers of one species that dominates so that other species may become established. I have found it is best not to plant cattails in a new wetland as they will find it on their own.
Here are some thoughts on controlling cattails:
- Hand pull the first cattails that show up before they have time to spread.
- Visit the wetland twice a month and remove all cattails by hand each visit.
- Vary the bottom of the wetland when you build it with pits, mounds, and ridges.
- Loosen compacted soils and plant sedges and rushes.
- Completely dry the wetland for one growing season
- Spray with glyphosate (very effective)
- Plant trees around the wetland to shade the water (very effective)
- Allow horses access the wetland so they can eat the cattails.
Cattails are early and aggressive colonizers of new wetlands. Controlling them soon after construction is critical to success.
Good luck!
Tom Biebighauser
“Red-legged frogs (Rana draytonii) also like to lay eggs attach to cattails. But we learned the hard way that cattails quickly colonized our new ponds, especially restored ones. This year we cleared them by hand, but it’s a lot of work. We are happy to do it for the frogs, but wishing there was a better way to do it.”
Dra. Anny Peralta García
Directora Ejecutiva
Fauna del Noroeste A.C.
Cattails are also known by other names, including Typha latifolia, broadleaf cattail, common cattail, cat tails, great reedmace, bulrush, common bulrush, cat-o’-nine-tails, cooper’s reed, and cumbungi.
Cattails at Antonelli Pond, Santa Cruz, California
