Horsetail problem

[Alison M]

Please can anyone tell me how i get rid of horsetail weeeds i'm overun with them and cant get rid. I want to dig over my garden to start planting vegies next season but i really need to get rid of this problem.
I would appreciate as much advice as possible. Thankyou

[rustylady]

Found this link for you - sounds like it's going to be hard work! Horsetail, recognition and eradication

[Alison M]

Thankyou very much, so much appreciated.

[Queen of Spades]

We took our plot after it had been left to itself for 10 yrs and it was over head height with horsetails, willow herb and nettles, plus most other weeds you can think of. Over the years (nearly 30!) we've tamed everything except the horsetails. The only practical thing to do is pull them as you see them come up and it weakens them, slowly. If you tread on them first to crush them and split the waxy covering, weedkillers will work on the tops but they don't get to all the root system. It helps to take the tops off the male ones as they appear, (they look like elongated pine cones with pollen!) as at least it will stop any more new plants. Good luck

[Two_Sheds]

they dislike being shaded and don't compete well with taller plants. They also like acidic conditions.

I have horsetail all over the school's wildlife garden: it is much worse in the sunny open areas and on the bark paths. It's slightly less horrific in the shadier areas. I am pulling it up, baking it in the (!) sunshine then composting it when it's brown & crispy.

I'm also sowing green manures to try and crowd it out

[binley100]

It's a PITA , we keep pulling it out but The roots go down to Australia so it doesn't really seem to affect stuff..........

[Rhona]

I'd forget trying to get rid of it, and work with it. It was rampant on our first lottie, and plagued the next door plot. The woman on that plot just pulled out it out where it appeared, didn't worry about the roots, and kept her soil in good nick.

The plot on t'other side had been subjected to every chemical/whatever over 3 years to get rid of it, and it was STILL there, along with the fairly ruined soil.

[chris]

I have it really, REALLY bad in my garden. Evertime I'm in it I pull more of it up. An overgrown part (which I think is overgrown with some sort of clover - quite tall mind) doesn't have it as bad, and any part that does have it, the horse tail is weak, yellow and slightly shrivelled (sp?) - there's an article in the Sept issue of GYO about it - which as above mentions it hates being shaded... which seems to work for me!

I've also used roundup on some of it coming through part of my driveway which is covered in stone chippings.

[gojiberry]

I just live with it and try to make sure it doesn't actually swamp any plants that are growing. Every time I go down the plot I try to ensure I pull at least 50 tails, however I am almost certain that more than 50 have grown in the meantime. Every now and then I try to go through the whole lottie and take out 90%. Always comes back though.

Ian

[broch]

Hi there,

This is my first post so hope this is helpfull.

I have been using Verdone very succesfully on Horsetail (equisetum arvense) - signs of effectiveness within 24 hrs - death within 1 - 2 weeks. It takes several applications and is the only chemical control I have found which works. No need to damage the foliage - in fact I think the more undamaged it is the better the active ingredients with be absorbed.

Verdone is a lawn weedkiller and works very well, though I do not generally use chemicals. It is widely available thoughout the UK. I stongly suggest you RTFM before use.

Hope this helps.

broch

[Two_Sheds]

Verdone is a lawn weedkiller and works very well

I got as far as "contains Fluroxypyr, Clopyralid and MCPA" ....

[Two_Sheds]

I have horsetail all over the school's wildlife garden: it is much worse in the sunny open areas and on the bark paths.

I think I'm winning at last. It's not beaten by any means, it keeps popping up everywhere ~ but it's been seriously weakened by digging out, pulling and having taller things grow over it

[jollygardener70]

I have this in my front garden and it's travelled into every nook and cranny under the flags you name it it's got there. I have tried everything I can to get rid but as its under the flags on the driveway I'd need to rip that up which is not happening I have resigned myself to the fact that it's there to stay as long as it don't travel under the house the the veg plot I will just have to live with it.

[Snadger]

Verdone cotains Fluroxypyr, Clopyralid and MCPA so you're hitting it with three chemicals at once!

[mrpaulbradley]

Ditto like most if the above, I just try to live with it. Anything I'd do would be undone by the amount that's growing in neighbours garden. They let it run rampant
The only thing I'd add is that I add it to nettles and dandelion to make tea fertiliser. Apparently it's full of nitrogen and silicon? Although to get the latter it needs boiling.
See? Everything has it's uses and deserves to live (for a short time)