horsetail/marestail

[lottie dolly]

Apaprently, excluding it from light is the best way to do it, search for Two Sheds posts about it.

this i have done,it only stops whilst it is covered,it soon grows again,plus it will find it's way to reach the light by traveling roots,

[frogdoctor]

We have a this pest on our site, most plot holders have tried the chemical side of killing it, none seems to have worked, I personally live with it, when it pops it`s head up on my plot, I gently pull it out or what I can of it, my plot had a fair bit on it too but, I just keep annoying it, think it must weaken the root system? now it`s not such a problem. The way I see it is; it`s here to stay so, stay on top of it.

[ButternutSquash]

My guess is that covering for a year would only weaken it if it has well established roots. Growing turnips is said to inhibit its growth.

[BertieFox]

My guess is that covering for a year would only weaken it if it has well established roots. Growing turnips is said to inhibit its growth.

I did just this, only it was TWO years, and I used black plastic. When I removed the plastic the area was horsetail free! (It returned in about three weeks!) Just keep pulling the stuff out when it has grown to a good size 'shoot'. Cutting it or pulling it out repeatedly when small leads to it branching and multiplying.

[Lazy Gardener]

Maybe post #8 has it?

My allotment site has a large colony of the stuff. My plot was the unused overgrown one with huge weeds but a total lack or the stuff which was a surprise. But as i have cleared it bit by bit the stuff is trying to sneak its way through.

The treeline looks like an army of the stuff waiting to invade. But it does come up quite a fair distance from that line.

So is it best to pull it up and ignore it or dig it up a bit and ignore it?

[BertieFox]

My experience from trying to dig it out is that you simply break up pieces of the bootlace roots which can multiply it, and in any case, as the roots go down many feet, you won't eliminate it. You need a different strategy depending what you are trying to do.

1. For cultivated beds already 'invaded'. Frequent cultivation, carefully removing each string of roots you dig up, will keep it in pretty good control. Once the bed is planted, just pull out each individual stem of horsetail when it is well enough grown to get a good grip on it and pull it out with a good piece of the root too. And then dig again getting out more root before the next crop.

2. Areas where it is 'endemic' or well established. If it is possible, the best thing to do is regularly mow these areas which will keep it very much under control and at least stop it from producing the dust like spores on the male plants. It also grows badly in very long grass that will outcompete it, so the other strategy is to let the area go completely wild and only cut it all down in late summer.

3. Whenever you pull out or dig up pieces of horsetail, don't be tempted to just throw it in a pile, or worse, compost it, as it spreads easily, even from tiny pieces on your boots. I've ended up with it in places which were free because of poor garden hygiene. I'd recommend putting every piece in a black plastic bag and getting rid of it in the waste collection (or tipping over your neighbour's fence )

The biggest problem with it is in perennial flower beds and shrub areas where you cannot do the frequent cultivations. There the only way is to pull it out carefully once it is large enough to be pulled out in single piece with a bit of root too.

[Gemizzel]

My experience from trying to dig it out is that you simply break up pieces of the bootlace roots which can multiply it, and in any case, as the roots go down many feet, you won't eliminate it. You need a different strategy depending what you are trying to do.

3. Whenever you pull out or dig up pieces of horsetail, don't be tempted to just throw it in a pile, or worse, compost it, as it spreads easily, even from tiny pieces on your boots. I've ended up with it in places which were free because of poor garden hygiene. I'd recommend putting every piece in a black plastic bag and getting rid of it in the waste collection (or tipping over your neighbour's fence )

.

Being a total newbie I didnt even think of this last weekend when I was pulling it out of one of my beds... guess what Im doing this weekend
*goes off to find a large quantity of black bin liners*

[BertieFox]

Just to depress all horsetail 'owners' even further: We moved here 11 years ago and the area immediately behind the house by a stream was infested with horsetail.

We turned it into a patio about ten years ago, covering the area in rubble, sand and the woven green permeable membrane designed to suppress weeds. This was topped with a thick layer of decorative gravel.

The odd bit of horsetail came through during the first two years, which I pulled out relentlessly. We have had not a single piece of horsetail in evidence for the past eight or nine years here. (Just on the patio of course!)

This summer I have started preparing the site for a conservatory I am building. We removed the gravel. We removed the thick membrane!

Unbelievably, beneath the membrane after TEN YEARS we found the characteristic black bootlaces of horsetail roots..... obviously lurking there for all that time waiting for the moment a bit of light might return!

I suppose in the interests of science, I really should have left it for a couple of weeks to see how long it would take the roots to burst into life again, but as it is, I am mixing the concrete to cover the area in the next day or two! But I'm still crossing my fingers!