Does this sound ok?

[Rhona]

We have new allotment with BIG mares' tail problem. The ground has been mulched over for one season and needs one more at least. We plan to, this weekend, build lined raised beds over much of this, and fill around with bark chippings.

Does this sound like a plan? To be honest, it's too late in growing season to start trying to dig it all over, and I want to start producing something!

Also, if the beds are approx. 1 1/2 metres by 6 metres, how much top soil should we order to fill 3 of them, if they are mostly one - two 'planks' deep?

Thanks all.

[greendean]

hi rhona

mares tail can be a real 'mare.(sorry for the terrible joke)

if you get plenty of cardboard down to suppress the weeds and put soil on top this should keep it at bay and any that comes up can be pulled so that over time it should weaken the mares tail. digging it out only produces more pieces to grow.

if my maths is correct to fill one bed, one plank deep (150cm, 6") it would take 1.35cubic metres to fill or 1350 litres!

some builders merchant do 1 tonne or 1 cubic metre bags of top soil which would do the trick. unfortunatley this is how my brother in law introduced mares tail into his alloment

hope this helps

[JimmerG]

Hi Rhona,

I too am having a bit of Mare 'mare. It seems this is the time of year when they send up their evil spore ridden shoots. What I do is carefull break them off (trying not to broadcast spores everywhere) and drown them! BUT I don't have all the time in the world to keep and eye on the shoots, and they do invariably shoot up elsewhere. I understand if you just keep hoeing them off they get tired and die - but they have roots that go down 5 feet!

However - I'm not sure what to do once the plants get established - does one just keep pulling them up, I heard somewhere that MORE plants come up in their place - maybe someone could verify!

But you mention lining your beds - what are you lining them with?

I've got paths of woodchippings all over my allotment and the Marestails still grow straight through this!

This plant has been around since the dinosaurs and will probably outlive us!!

[jacob marley]

I had a plot year's ago with a Mare's tail problem and was told by a old codger on the site do not worry about it it will not be there in the Autumn when you are harvesting your crop it seemed to die back in the Autumn and it did so don't worry about you will waste to much time and energy trying to eradicate it....jacob

[Geordie]

3 bits of advice from my own efforts....I now live with mares tail and just snap off the tops as they appear....don't seem to get anymore than if I actually tried to control it but its much less stressfull this way!
Second, my strawberries seem to be much better growing amongst mares tail which I now leave to grow on that bed, no explanation why but am not complaining.
If you do want to try and clear it, apart from continual digging the best way is to crush the foliage between stones and then paint the foliage with a strong weedkiller...again, time consuming.