Mare's Tails

[Broomers]

Mares Tail

Hi, I'm new to the allotment thing and just been offered an allotment where mares tail is rife. My wife doesn't want to take it on now through fear of bringing back tiny bits of it on the mower or wellies to our pristine garden. Does anyone know if that is possible or likely? Thanks

[bikermike]

I have the same problem - I once brought back some strawberries and saw the hated thing poke up after I planted the strawberries. So I ripped them up and put them in the green bin. I've had no problem since.

In general, I keep the two separate, so

I don't bring back soil or plants (this isn't really a hardship for me, as I start things at home and plant them out).
I don't compost vegetable roots etc from the plot at home (I try to cut, eg leek roots off at the plot).

I have a pair of wellies I only wear at the plot
I now have a separate set of tools - before I did, I made sure I cleaned them before bringing them back.

I suppose the biggest issue is that I can't in good conscience give plants from my plot to friends, and if we move, I'll lose my fruit trees.

Marestail is a royal pain in the proverbial, but it's not Japanese knotweed, it's worth taking precautions, but not worth panicking over.

I imagine it is possible that a bit of marestail in a mower might survive for a day or two, so it's worth cleaning it (it's worth it anyway), but we have shared mowers on the plot used indiscriminately, and it doesn't seem to have been spread by mowers. It will be worth not using muddy gardening boots in both places. A second pair of wellies isn't going to break the bank.

[BobW]

Mare's Tail

New to the Allotment scene glad I came across this as I have just acquired my first allotment and it's rife with Mare's Tail I don't expect anything this year just hope to dig over and get rid of as much weed as I can, it seems quite common on most plots but a work in progress just hoping it won't stop me growing next year.

[keat63]

My quest continues.
I've tried Glysophate and Ammonium Sulphamate.
The area has been left dormant this year, covered with carpet.
Lifted the carpet at the weekend to take a look, and there are still traces of the stuff.

I've no doubt it will be severly weakened and easier to tackle next year, (hopefully)

[bikermike]

I would never recommend weedkiller, but if you must, bear in mind that it has a tough waxy coating that the weedkiller won't penetrate, it will need bashing about and breaking up a bit to let the weedkiller get in.

If you dig over the soil (again, don't recommend - I do no dig), bear in mind that the stuff will re-spout from very small parts, you need to pull out the roots you find as you go, or you'll make it worse.

I would suggest
1) cover areas that you aren't using - it will grow vast ammounts trying to look for light and so exhaust itself
2) make "fire breaks" across the plot. I generally use paths and cover the ground in plastic with woodchip on top. Two reasons for this - (a) it's much easier to weed a smaller area methodically, as it's easy to get lost in a big area, (b) it slows marestail spread - it likes to poke it's head up every so often and if it can't it doesn't spread as much.
3) make weed tea from the bits you weed (ie put them in a covered drum filled with water, and use the water after a few weeks as liquid plantfood), this means you get something back from it, and it doesn't contaminate your compost.

[Logunner]

My quest continues.
I've tried Glysophate and Ammonium Sulphamate.
The area has been left dormant this year, covered with carpet.
Lifted the carpet at the weekend to take a look, and there are still traces of the stuff.

I've no doubt it will be severly weakened and easier to tackle next year, (hopefully)

I’ve had less than 20 pieces this year, after spraying last year and repeatedly covering with cardboard. I will continuing with the cardboard through to next spring and don’t foresee the need for any further chemical intervention. Neighbouring plot has reported a vast reduction on their’s without taking any action themselves, but they will be covering the plot this year.

Consider uncovering for a week or so and then spraying again with AS before covering up again until next year.