We are going to net our pond. Just lay them over or prune them back? They will die back, so I vote for cutting back! What say you?
Helioman
Stratham NH
Thanks!
This message was edited Nov 11, 2008 7:41 PM
Cutting back pond grasses & cattails?
I would cut them back. The more plant waste you can eliminate from the water the better.
Heck, I pulled all the pots out and trimmed them right down and then vacuumed the pond and did two water changes to make it about 80% total and removed all my tropical lillies and took them into the house (basement) to over winter (at least try over wintering). But that is just me and I may be very extreme but I had a lot of koi health problems this summer and wanted to give my fish that best chance possible for winter. I've already had a light coating of ice two morning in a row. Poor little koi!
Thank you for your feed back. I don't have a pond vac but have a gold super sucker. Yes we get out & pan for fun.
Thanks!
will the cattails come back next year if the water does not freeze but gets cold and they die back? I have never had them before. They never formed any of the cat tails.. just grassy looking. This was my first year to have them. I had them in a pot on the side of my little pond. and moved them so they are inside my pond for the winter.. the pond never freezes.. I get a little ice on the edges sometimes in the early morning only but that is all on the coldest nights during the winter.
Both dwarf and regular cattails are very hardy. The species to zone 4 and the dwarf to zone 5. When grown in zones warmer than 5 they are reluctant to form catkins. You can safely leave them oustide all year in the pond but don't expect much in the way of catkins.
OH, I did not know that.... catkins.. did not know that either.. LOL learn a lot here. At least I get the grassy look I like. I remember them when I lived in Memphis TN.. when I was a kid. I can live with just the grassy look. Thank you for the information. They do live in the cooler part of my yard. If there is such a thing here.
I love the look of pond grasses. I usually grow a sedge ( one of the Carex's) for a tall vertical effect. Because cattails are a little TOO happy in zone 5 and can get out of control I don't put them in the pond.
Mine are in a separate planter and my pond is a free standing stock tank so no worries of anything getting out of control here.. no water anywhere except where I put it! LOL
That works!
I wondered what to do about the cattails because this is my first year too...trying to do the right thing, keep the ecosystem in order but also try to groom the pond which was way overgrown.
Early fall we had cut back quite a bit because they had made their way around the entire pond. But we left many also. They have died back and many of the seed heads have strewn (is that even a word?) themselves all over the pond. Wish I would have seen this thread earlier to avoid that mess. Either way I believe the cattails will come back since the plant has stored energy in the roots thru winter.
Since we are in the same zone LhasaLover, there is hope for many catkins in your future.
