Now that we are approaching the end of the horsetail season I thought I'd provide a quick update on my opening post about how things went this year...
Bed 1 - still covered, not looked underneath.
The 2 beds where we have dug deeply to remove the roots - we've been growing toms / beans / courgette / squash here which have mostly stifled the horsetail to an extent. Here I've used a dutch hoe to remove the horsetail where it has emerged again in these 2 beds and it has been manageable.
The 2 beds that ware badly affected - used Neudorff to brush onto all horsetail leaves that we had bruised and repeated when new growth was 4 inches +. 1 bed responded well and although there was a reasonable amount of new growth it was manageable. The other bed that was badly affected did not appear to respond well to applications of Neudorff, for this bed we have now turned into a wildlife pond so we will see how this develops the following year!
I think the horsetail will (hopefully) be more manageable next year and will use a combination of careful deep digging together with hoeing new growth when it appears.
Wildlife pond is doing very well, grass is kept longer for around 50cm around pond and this stifles the horsetail in this area. I have seen the odd frond but it has been mostly beaten by the grass. Pond looks nice too!
Bed nearest pond, this was badly affected last year - this year this had early spinach, coriander, parsley, mizuna, followed by brussels and kale. Last winter I put cardboard over the bed covered with a few inches of mulch. This year there were a few strands of horsetail, when these reached around 4 inches i snapped them off just below ground level, new fronds were a lot more subdued looking. Considering how badly this area was affected last year I would say this is a good result.
Next bed along. Potatoes first then spinach / fennel. This one was interesting. Because it had potatoes in ridges this affected my ability to pull the horsetail in the way I wanted to, I had to let it get longer, say around 6 inches, before pulling it. Also soil disturbance due to earthing up / pulling the potatoes I think led to noticeably more horsetail in this section. On this section I have just a few weeks laid cardboard followed by a few inches of mulch so this should calm things down next year.
Next bed along. More potatoes and tree peas followed by some beets and radiccio. Peas out-competed the horsetail easily. Potatoes section again more affected due to soil movement.
Final bed. Courgettes, garlic. The odd clump easily managed.
So overall I would say it is looking good, of course it will never be eradicated since it originates from outside the plot.
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There are actually ornamental varieties that are deliberately cultivated. We were amazed to see a gorgeous spread of it growing at Ness Gardens.
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful