you have a great resource, Windy Oaks, in Eagle Wisconsin.
http://home.wi.rr.com/windyoaks/

There are lots of plants that will meet the limits. Iris comes to
mind. they propagate themselves very nicely and are sculptural when
not blooming. Ingrid

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:38:12 CST, Jme
wrote:

Hello All,

I have three water-retention ponds in my community, each about 1.25
acres in size. I'm located in the Southeast corner of Wisconsin.

For three years, the ponds were virtually unmanaged. Now we are
reclaiming them again. We had a terrible amount of cattail in each,
so much so you could not see the ponds. We have reduced the cattail
to less than 30% for each pond, and are now looking into useful
plantings.

The ideal planting is one that will help us define the edge of the
pond, keeping it looking natural, and something that will not grow
more than 36" tall, so homeowners can still see the ponds.

Being on a limited budget, we're looking for something natural yet
more pleasing to the eye than cattail.

The Internet is full of great ideas, so much so that the choices are
daunting. Given the experts here, I thought I would pose the question
in hopes of narrowing down the field of selection.....

Thanks!