I'm very curious...are the grasses posing an issue or a concern for your property? What state are you in? Can you describe the grasses? (sorry...lots of questions)

I would not use chemicals in a wetland area.

It's a very tall all tan marsh grass that I was told was imported from Holland and ran amuck. I'll post a picture when I get a chance. I'm in Connecticut. The grasses don't pose any threat other than blocking a very nice water view. I'm inclined to just leave them be, but I'd rather have natives there than invasives. I'll have to contact my state agency and see what the deal is with killing them off. Maybe it's some type of selective herbicide that I could apply once the birds migrate in the fall.

Let's see. The grass is a very tall, non-native invasive on the coast of Connecticut, and it's name starts with "F?"

It's probably Phragmites, and it's more than likely a variety of P. australis (Common Reed) known as Phragmites "Haplotype M."

If it actually is Phragmites, the marsh bordering your property is probably fairly low salinity brackish water, because the plant can't tolerate salinity greater than 18 parts per thousand. This means your marsh is very likely some sort of a restricted impoundment, with tidal flow controlled by some sort of dike or dam.

There are all sorts of ways to get rid of it, including mowing it, digging it up, even covering it with plastic. These individual techniques are usually only temporary, and only effective on small stands. You might try this to a limited extent, to try to improve your views.

Connecticut has a program called WHAMM (Wetland Habitat and Mosquito Management) which uses two more permanent methods.

One is to increase the salinity of the marsh, by allowing greater tidal flow into the area. This may or may not be possible in your case, because it could lead to increased flooding during storms, moon tides, etc..

The other is a 3-year program of mowing and treating with Glyphosate (Roundup, Rodeo, etc.)

Everything depends on whether you have the right/responsibility to deal with the marsh. A large stand of Phragmites will really destroy it's own habitat in time. It limits bird and other wildlife use, and it's shade kills lower growing (shorter than 20') plants. It does not act as any sort of dam, keeping flood water off your property. Something else is keeping the tidal waters back, otherwise the Phragmites wouldn't be able to grow there.

I'd suggest contacting WHAMM.

Ahh! That's it. Sounds like an F, but is a PH. Phragmites is definitely what's back there. Yes it is a controlled runoff from the Long Island Sound. It is pretty salty which is probably why I have fewer in my area than other marshes in the area. There was a wicked flood about 20 years ago, and they've since created this man made marsh to handle the runoff.

Regardless, since the killing does involve Roundup related stuff, it's staying. There's no way I'm going to mess with the ecosystem that's in place back there. Most of the birds who feed back there, Egrets, Herons and geese, paw in the mud for their food. It's not a huge body of water and wouldn't take much to screw it all up with pesticides.

Thanks for the info.

You might discuss the methods involved with people at UConn or with the state. I know of responsible people (with the Nature Conservancy, I believe) who use Rodeo (glyphosate without the surfacent in Roundup so better if near water) to prevent the incursion of Phragmites even into wetlands. A quite safe method is, I think, the cut stem method. The stem is hollow, so you can cut it and insert some half- or quarter-strength Rodeo into it, and the Rodeo never gets in the water. I think there are injectors you can get for this that would eliminate the possibility of spills. Kills the plants pretty well but not 100%. In a large stand, of course, it is labor intensive. You can look at the link below for conservation steward's experiences.

You can balance all this against what might be gained. Can you reasonably clear out a whole area that will stay free of Phragmites, or in which it will be easily managed? If not, it may not be worth the effort.

One interesting thing about Phragmites australis. It is actually native to the US coast and its non-scientific name is "common reed." But the stuff that is spreading is a form of the species that has a very tiny genetic difference and that was probably imported to the US. It is impossible to tell the difference between the original and the invasive form without doing genetic analysis.

Here is a link that might be useful: Phragmites control experience