How to Grow and Care for Common Cattail

You might know common cattails as bulrushes. These perennial aquatic plants are widely associated with growing in shallow waters in boggy marshes and wetland areas across temperate regions in North America. Cattails have an upright growth habit with basal leaves, a long, narrow upright stem, and a tall cylindrical inflorescence. With the right conditions, these fast-growing plants can reach up to 10 feet tall. They have a rhizomatous root system and spread rapidly to form attractive thick clumps. The tall, dense clumps provide cover and nutrition for wildlife.

When planting a cattail, make sure you select a species such as Typha latifolia, which is native to parts of the United States instead of an introduced species that can become invasive.

Cattail Plant Care

With the right conditions, in no time at all you can develop a cattail colony that requires little maintenance. Here are the main care requirements for growing cattails:

• Grow in full sun to partial shade.
• Plant in rich, loamy soil.
• Use bottomless containers, or something similar, for planting, as their spreading rhizomes can be difficult to remove once established.
• Keep cattails watered by planting in boggy environments that maintain wet soil.
• Feed cattails minimally, if at all, with a balanced water garden fertilizer in spring.

Light

Cattails need full sun or partial shade to thrive. They can't survive in full shade.

Soil

These plants benefit from rich, loamy soil that contains plenty of organic matter. They can, however, grow in most soil types.

Water

As you would expect from a marshland species, cattails need a lot of moisture to thrive, and this is the most vital element of their care. The soil should be kept wet, which is why they do best in areas where this happens naturally. These plants can thrive in standing water.

Temperature and Humidity

Cattails are most commonly found in temperate regions of North America, but they can also grow in subtropical and elevated tropical regions. Although young shoots don't cope with frost well, established cattails can handle harsh winters in their dormant state. These hardy plants will come back reliably year after year.

Fertilizer

Fertilizing cattails isn't generally required or recommended.

Types of Cattails

There are other cattail species that might interest the home gardener, but they are native to Europe and Asia and as such might become invasive if not controlled:

• Dwarf bulrush (T. minima): This dwarf variety of cattail grows only 2 feet tall with interesting, rounded catkins.
• Graceful cattail (T. laxmannii): This variety has spiraling threads on the end of its leaves and striking, golden catkins that are about the size of a walnut.
• Narrowleaf cattail (T. angustifolia): This variety offers exactly what the name suggests; narrow leaves as opposed to the broader leaves of the other varieties. It can become invasive.

Pruning

It's advisable to prune back cattail plants in bogs during the fall when their growth slows down. Cut the cattails with sharp pruning shears about 8 inches above the surface of the water they're standing in, or down to the ground if they are not in standing water. New growth will appear in the spring.

Propagating Cattail Plants

Cattails can self-seed freely and spread through their rhizomes. These rhizomes make it easy to propagate if you want to add a new cluster of plants to a different large landscape area. Young shoots can also be divided in the spring when they are between 5 and 10 inches tall. Here’s how to propagate cattails:

1. Dig up the plants with a shovel, making sure a decent amount of undamaged root is attached.
2. Divide the plants into manageable sections.
3. Plant them in a new suitable wet location, near a pond or another location where they get flooded and stand up to 12 inches deep in water.

How to Grow Common Cattail Plants From Seed

If growing cattails from seeds, they need a lot of water for successful germination. They should be sown on the surface of the soil and kept very moist, to the point of being soggy. Sowing them at the edge of a pond or other marshy area makes this process much easier for the home gardener. Here’s how to start cattail seeds indoors:

1. Begin by soaking the seeds for 24 hours, then cleaning away the cottony debris that often surrounds them.
2. Let the seeds dry, then press them on top of a two-inch container filled with a mixture of seed-starting compost and coarse sand.
3. Cover them to a depth of 1/4 inch with compost. Cover the plants with a plastic dome and use a germination mat set to 100 degrees Fahrenheit to provide ample warmth.
4. Water at least once a day with a spray bottle to ensure proper moisture. Germination takes about two weeks
5. Transplant strong seedlings into the soil in early autumn, preferably right after rainfall so the soil is very moist.

Potting and Repotting Common Cattail Plants

Choose a dwarf variety, like dwarf bulrush that only gets 2 feet tall, when growing in pots, which can be submerged in a water garden or pond. Plant a single plant in a sturdy, 1-gallon container, partially fill it with heavy, loamy clay soil, place the plant in a pot, and then fill it with just enough soil so that the crown is just above the top of the soil line. Mulch with gravel or small crushed stones before placing the pots in the water, which can be as deep as the rim of the pot. Check the plant in the spring to see if it’s root-bound and may need to be transferred to a larger pot.

Common Pests

Cattails don't face the typical insects that many other plants do. Instead, they are often eaten by creatures of much larger size, such as crayfish or muskrats. Because cattails are so prolific, animal grazing shouldn't be an issue.

How to Get Cattails to Bloom

Bloom Months

Cattails bloom in the summer, from May through July.

How Long Do Cattail Plants Bloom?

Cattails flowers begin to bloom in summer, the spikes start out green and eventually turn brown by early fall when they pop open and release seeds into the air.

What Do Cattail Flowers Look and Smell Like?

Cattail flowers, called catkins, are spike-shaped, with a smaller, thinner male spike that sits on top of a female spike. The spikes contain thousands of densely packed tiny, petalless flowers that form a cylinder shape. The flowers do not have a remarkable scent.

Male spikes start out green and then turn yellow as pollen forms. The pollen releases for about 2 weeks, and then the male spikes fall off. 

The female spikes start out green as they bloom in the spring and turn brown and fuzzy by the fall. 

Deadheading Cattail Flowers

Cut off cattail’s seed heads in the fall to control cattails from spreading.