How to Kill Cattails

Drowning Cattails

1). Pull on tall rubber boots or waterproof fishing pants.
2). Move a large wheelbarrow near the side of the water. If you have sizable amounts of cattails to remove, have a helper stay on the shore and move the wheelbarrow around for you as you work in the water.
3). Wade carefully into the water.
4). Cut the cattails off about three or four inches beneath the water, using hand pruners or loppers.
5). Toss the tops of the cattails into the wheelbarrow as you go.
6). Ensure the water level stays above the cattails; the plants will no longer receive oxygen and they will drown. If you allow the water level to drop and the cattail stems rise above the water, the cattails will not die.

1). Wash a large bucket with soapy water. Rinse the bucket well.
2). Pour an ounce of glyphosate herbicide into the bucket. Pour one-quarter ounce of a surfactant like Cidekick, which helps the herbicide adhere to the cattails, into the bucket. Pour one gallon of water into the bucket.
3). Mix well with a clean stick.
4). Pour the mixture into a sprayer and mist the cattails with it. One hundred gallons of the mixture will cover one acre of cattails.
5). Wait two or more weeks before removing the cattails from the water. This will give the herbicide plenty of time to travel down to the rhizomes and kill them.