Terrible stuff. It does eventually give up if you keep removing ALL its top growth but it's so easy to miss a bit. Sickens me when I walk past a garden or patch of unused ground where it's growing unchecked and forming spores to blow about.
I've just come across a paper about glyphosate which I'm going to put in a new thread.....
As I've found out by rueful experience, unless an infestation of marestail is very localised on your own plot, the likelihood is that it'll also be growing just over the hedge in another garden, in neighbouring allotments, or on a nearby roadside edge or field border.
While you can kill it on your own ground with repeated cutting out and/or glyphosate or other herbicide, that won't be the end of the battle. If it is still around nearby it's pretty much bound to creep back again eventually via the spreading roots that can go down incredibly deep, or by spores. You just have to stay constantly vigilant and jump on it as soon as it rears the smallest shoot.
I've been trying to beat it for 5 years, tried Progreen's Kurtail 2 years running and all it does is kill the tops, they blacken and you have a lovely clean bed until you check the roots and find they are still green inside and ready to grow again. Indeed the following year they are up in the hundreds, not affected by Kurtail.
This year I am going to try glysophate. Also am going to test the soil to see if it is acidic and look at liming it- anyone know how successful this is?
Luckily my MT problem is contained in one very large walled bed- just in front of the patio.
Saw the post re Ammonium Sulphamte works-where can you buy it?
They have brown roots, like shoe laces, and the very young are white roots, what I was referring to is the inside of the live root which is green. If you snap a brown root if it is still live it will be green indisde. After using Kurtail it looked dead above the surface, but under ground it was still live.
As you can see from the photo- kurtail did nothing- other than fool you in to thinking it had worked by burning the tops off. teh following year it was back to its normal self. This is the photo of the bed the following spring after using Kurtail- the Kurtail had not done anything.
Last year tried again with Kurtail - this spring up they have come again. Originally it was called kibosh- so maybe the ingredients in that were different and worked- but not under the name Kurtail. I can't understand how it worked for you?
Others are saying glysophate works, if the MT are trappled and a spot of washing up liquid is used in the sprayer. The brand Roundup (gylsohate) has worked for some gardeners if used 2 years running
The border is a walled semi-circle on a slope, 14 m long by 6 m wide- the problem is all in the bed and only have 4 shrubs in it. 1 small box tree, a small picea conifer and 3 potentillas, the rest is bareground other than masses of maretails, annual grass, thistles, bombsite weeds, forgetme-nots and lots of annual weeds.
Grew annual daisies when the maretails had been browned off one year. did try the green manure- hungarian rye grass- but that didn't work.
Used nearly all the bottle of kurtail, there was some for the missed few, but not that hard to miss as nothing much growing in the bed. I cover the shrubs with industrial clingfilm. I didn't trapple the marestails just sprayed as instructed by Progreen.
I am at my wits end with it, I just want to be able to plant here as this is the main border and next to the patio. Even if it means waiting till next year to plant I don't mind but don't want to see another forest of it next year.
Amazingley the soil is easy to work, clay based as per the rest of the garden, but seems as though it has had sand added at some point- I believe the original owners had an alpine bed here. Which I would love to do.
I find an odd frone of MT elsewhere in the garden each year, but that is all- which I dig up immediately.
The like periscope shoots in early spring,- I cover with a bag best I can and remove the top to stop the spores spreading. Probably only avout 15-20 of those.
Just that one large border with the problem- guessing it was introduced with imported soil or manure at some point.
this year they are nearly ready to treat but this time the border has more rubbish weeds as above- too which I thought I should treat first to ensure the MT gets my full undivided attention.
Yes followed the directions re usage and when to pally etc- ahrd to find a dry wind free day in York but managed it .
The border is a walled semi-circle on a slope, 14 m long by 6 m wide- the problem is all in the bed and only have 4 shrubs in it. 1 small box tree, a small picea conifer and 3 potentillas, the rest is bareground other than masses of maretails, annual grass, thistles, bombsite weeds, forgetme-nots and lots of annual weeds.
Grew annual daisies when the maretails had been browned off one year. did try the green manure- hungarian rye grass- but that didn't work.
Used nearly all the bottle of kurtail, there was some for the missed few, but not that hard to miss as nothing much growing in the bed. I cover the shrubs with industrial clingfilm. I didn't trapple the marestails just sprayed as instructed by Progreen.
I am at my wits end with it, I just want to be able to plant here as this is the main border and next to the patio. Even if it means waiting till next year to plant I don't mind but don't want to see another forest of it next year.
Amazingly the soil is easy to work, clay based as per the rest of the garden, but seems as though it has had sand added at some point- I believe the original owners had an alpine bed here. Which I would love to do.
I find an odd frone of MT elsewhere in the garden each year, but that is all- which I dig up immediately.
The like periscope shoots in early spring,- I cover with a bag best I can and remove the top to stop the spores spreading. Probably only avout 15-20 of those.
Just that one large border with the problem- guessing it was introduced with imported soil or manure at some point.
this year they are nearly ready to treat but this time the border has more rubbish weeds as above- too which I thought I should treat first to ensure the MT gets my full undivided attention.
Posts
Terrible stuff. It does eventually give up if you keep removing ALL its top growth but it's so easy to miss a bit. Sickens me when I walk past a garden or patch of unused ground where it's growing unchecked and forming spores to blow about.
I've just come across a paper about glyphosate which I'm going to put in a new thread.....
Glyphosate thread: http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/problem-solving/glyphosate---possible-problems/370174.html
As I've found out by rueful experience, unless an infestation of marestail is very localised on your own plot, the likelihood is that it'll also be growing just over the hedge in another garden, in neighbouring allotments, or on a nearby roadside edge or field border.
While you can kill it on your own ground with repeated cutting out and/or glyphosate or other herbicide, that won't be the end of the battle. If it is still around nearby it's pretty much bound to creep back again eventually via the spreading roots that can go down incredibly deep, or by spores. You just have to stay constantly vigilant and jump on it as soon as it rears the smallest shoot.
I've been trying to beat it for 5 years, tried Progreen's Kurtail 2 years running and all it does is kill the tops, they blacken and you have a lovely clean bed until you check the roots and find they are still green inside and ready to grow again. Indeed the following year they are up in the hundreds, not affected by Kurtail.
This year I am going to try glysophate. Also am going to test the soil to see if it is acidic and look at liming it- anyone know how successful this is?
Luckily my MT problem is contained in one very large walled bed- just in front of the patio.
Saw the post re Ammonium Sulphamte works-where can you buy it?
They have brown roots, like shoe laces, and the very young are white roots, what I was referring to is the inside of the live root which is green. If you snap a brown root if it is still live it will be green indisde. After using Kurtail it looked dead above the surface, but under ground it was still live.
2 months after spraying- tried it 2 years in a row. some roots are dead i.e. black inside but 90% are still live.
I have dug some up and threw them in the council garden wheelie bin and a week later can see them sprouting up ready for new sproutings.
As you can see from the photo- kurtail did nothing- other than fool you in to thinking it had worked by burning the tops off. teh following year it was back to its normal self.
This is the photo of the bed the following spring after using Kurtail- the Kurtail had not done anything.
Last year tried again with Kurtail - this spring up they have come again. Originally it was called kibosh- so maybe the ingredients in that were different and worked- but not under the name Kurtail. I can't understand how it worked for you?
Others are saying glysophate works, if the MT are trappled and a spot of washing up liquid is used in the sprayer. The brand Roundup (gylsohate) has worked for some gardeners if used 2 years running
Buddy, 2 days ago you were recommending Gallup. Is that not a trade name for glyphosate?
In the sticks near Peterborough
The border is a walled semi-circle on a slope, 14 m long by 6 m wide- the problem is all in the bed and only have 4 shrubs in it. 1 small box tree, a small picea conifer and 3 potentillas, the rest is bareground other than masses of maretails, annual grass, thistles, bombsite weeds, forgetme-nots and lots of annual weeds.
Grew annual daisies when the maretails had been browned off one year. did try the green manure- hungarian rye grass- but that didn't work.
Used nearly all the bottle of kurtail, there was some for the missed few, but not that hard to miss as nothing much growing in the bed. I cover the shrubs with industrial clingfilm. I didn't trapple the marestails just sprayed as instructed by Progreen.
I am at my wits end with it, I just want to be able to plant here as this is the main border and next to the patio. Even if it means waiting till next year to plant I don't mind but don't want to see another forest of it next year.
Amazingley the soil is easy to work, clay based as per the rest of the garden, but seems as though it has had sand added at some point- I believe the original owners had an alpine bed here. Which I would love to do.
I find an odd frone of MT elsewhere in the garden each year, but that is all- which I dig up immediately.
The like periscope shoots in early spring,- I cover with a bag best I can and remove the top to stop the spores spreading. Probably only avout 15-20 of those.
Just that one large border with the problem- guessing it was introduced with imported soil or manure at some point.
this year they are nearly ready to treat but this time the border has more rubbish weeds as above- too which I thought I should treat first to ensure the MT gets my full undivided attention.
Yes followed the directions re usage and when to pally etc- ahrd to find a dry wind free day in York but managed it .
The border is a walled semi-circle on a slope, 14 m long by 6 m wide- the problem is all in the bed and only have 4 shrubs in it. 1 small box tree, a small picea conifer and 3 potentillas, the rest is bareground other than masses of maretails, annual grass, thistles, bombsite weeds, forgetme-nots and lots of annual weeds.
Grew annual daisies when the maretails had been browned off one year. did try the green manure- hungarian rye grass- but that didn't work.
Used nearly all the bottle of kurtail, there was some for the missed few, but not that hard to miss as nothing much growing in the bed. I cover the shrubs with industrial clingfilm. I didn't trapple the marestails just sprayed as instructed by Progreen.
I am at my wits end with it, I just want to be able to plant here as this is the main border and next to the patio. Even if it means waiting till next year to plant I don't mind but don't want to see another forest of it next year.
Amazingly the soil is easy to work, clay based as per the rest of the garden, but seems as though it has had sand added at some point- I believe the original owners had an alpine bed here. Which I would love to do.
I find an odd frone of MT elsewhere in the garden each year, but that is all- which I dig up immediately.
The like periscope shoots in early spring,- I cover with a bag best I can and remove the top to stop the spores spreading. Probably only avout 15-20 of those.
Just that one large border with the problem- guessing it was introduced with imported soil or manure at some point.
this year they are nearly ready to treat but this time the border has more rubbish weeds as above- too which I thought I should treat first to ensure the MT gets my full undivided attention.