We own quite a bit of frontage on marsh/lake. We had all kinds of trouble because we cut up a couple dead trees near the shoreline. Also looked into filling in a low spot with dirt and re seeding near shore along patio (not touching water) and holy cripes...... So I cant imagine what your trying to do can be done without permit permit permit ....
Yes, after reading this, the narrow is a non-native. But the heads that I harvested, were of the broadleaf type.
Dale there is a herbicide that is made for cattail removal but i cant rememebr the name, it does work , i know several that have used it with success, maybe try fleet farm. I am relentless on cattails and phragmites on my wetland. if i see even one plant i make sure its toast, its hard to stay on top of them but if you dont they take over in a hurry. If you have muskrats they do a pretty good job of keeping cattails down but they were hard on my berm, i ended burying 300 ft of chain link fence in my berm so they couldnt burrow into the side and cave it in
Several years ago I bought a place in KY with a 2 acre pond that was shallow, full of stunted fish, and choked with cattails. Got Rotenone from the state DNR, killed off the fish, and restocked. Had two young sons and their four friends help me (cost me about $20 a kid back then) and we pulled them by the root, stacked them in the pasture to dry and burned them. Was effective but a lot of work. Today, I've discovered Rodeo a cousin to Roundup that is safe for fish and other wildlife. It will kill the cattails right down to the root and about anything else around the pond you spray it on. It must be mixed with a surfactant to get it to stick to the plants leaves and is not inexpensive but it is VERRRRY GOOOD!!!
Why not plant some phragmites, while your'e at it? Try something that adds to the environment? Food source, better cover, etc. Just one man's opinion.
