It is time for back to school, Friday night football games, and controlling the cattails and exotic phragmites around the margins of your pond or lake.
All summer, exotic phragmites and cattails grow prolifically, taking up more of your pond margin, gradually filling in your pond, and adding dead organic material and nutrients each year. Early fall is the time to take control back. As these plants finish the growing season, they begin to extract the nutrients back from the leaves, pulling nutrients down into the root system to store the energy for next year’s growing season. If you apply Shore-Klear Herbicide to the leaves now, the plant will transport the herbicide down to the roots, killing the entire plant, not just the tops!
Native cattails can be generally beneficial if they are kept in control, so selective elimination is appropriate. But exotic phragmites is a noxious problem that should be eradicated. We are frequently surprised on pond visits when we see considerable stands of this problematic grass that have not been previously identified by the pond owner. Early detection and control will help keep phragmites from overtaking your pond margins and creating huge issues in the future.
You can also use Shore-Klear to control brush like willow and alder around your pond margins in early fall. For best results with phragmites, cattails or brush, we recommend mixing Shore-Klear with Cygnet Plus surfactant in a sprayer to improve effectiveness of the herbicide. You may also consider adding a small amount of water dye to the mix to help mark where you have sprayed to avoid wasting material or missing plants that you want to control.
Timing is important for best control of phragmites, cattails and brush around your pond. Don’t miss this opportunity to take back your water margins! If you need help identifying exotic phragmites or have questions about how to control plants on your pond margin, give us a call. Don’t forget, we are licensed aquatic herbicide applicators and can help you directly with control projects!
