And it doesn't work anyway - it only kills the part of the plant it touches - it doesn't translocate back down to the roots and kill them - and it kills all the invertebrates in the soil, any small mammals and insects that touch it, and poisons the soil. Why would anyone ............ ?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have just taken over an allotment and have quite a lot of mares tail to deal with. heard the roots can go as deep as 10 foot? Surely I'm fighting a losing battle??
Personal experience draws on the conclusion that Glyphosate products (no matter how strong) do not kill off Horestails. Strong Glyphosate products may burn the foliage off within a week or two but shortly afterwards, the same stems are poking up out of the ground once again, almost lauging in your face.
If you want something that WILL kill them off (but as with all avaialabe weedkillers these days, it will take time - possibly years), two products have been developed with Horsetails in mind and neither are Glyphosate-based. Kaskara and Pearl.
Kaskara is selective - kills everything but grass (if mixed correctly) and Pearl kills everything (the better of the two for Horsetails). They are agricultural grade products and can be purchased easily.... BUT should be used with caution (preferably with sprayers licences). PM me if you need more details.
I think if I had this in my beds coming through from elsewhere, I'd dig out sections to about a foot and a half deep, lay tough landscaping fabric (making sure the sides of the trench were lined as well as the bottom), and then replace the soil after sifting to remove all traces of root. Then move on to the next section until eventually all the beds were done in this way. Obviously you'd need to go deeper for deep rooted plants.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
I recently took over an allotment that has along with adjacent alloments, a profusion of mares tail. Having used Gallup Hi-active 490 weed killer for a number of years I tried spraying as per normal weeds to no avail. I suspect that due to the tough waxy stem and fronds , killer was not getting through and eventually washing off with watering and rain. I am having very promising results with Gallup ( undiluted ) mixed into wallpaper paste.Brush it on. Certainly killing it at surface level , it remains to be seen if the systemic action takes it further. Do not rotovate , it will only increase itself . Constructing a barrier is useless as root go down to 7ft (2m). RHS reckons whatever course is taken ,it will take 3-4 yrs to eradicate.
This works for me. Your normal mix of Round Up, in my case about 15 litres, then 1/4 litre of Rush Killer and finally a good dollop of Fairy Liquid. Does the trick for me,
I've been trying for a couple of years to get rid of the stuff. We have a few raised beds, and due to injury weren't able to do much one-year and it took over. We have managed to dig out a massive amount of roots, digging down a few feet, riddling the soil and picking bits out. All appeared good this season, with just one of two marestail popping up and application of SBK appeared to kill them off well. Roofing the soil over today, after not being dug this summer, I find a fine mat of tendrils going in all directions, with the telltale signs of marestail on some ends. How do I kill this off without letting it get to the surface as a green shoot. Years ago sodium chlorate would have helped. I don't mind sterilising the soil for year, so anything that is active in the soil is needed, not something that relies on leaves being present.
Posts
And it doesn't work anyway - it only kills the part of the plant it touches - it doesn't translocate back down to the roots and kill them - and it kills all the invertebrates in the soil, any small mammals and insects that touch it, and poisons the soil. Why would anyone ............ ?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have just taken over an allotment and have quite a lot of mares tail to deal with. heard the roots can go as deep as 10 foot? Surely I'm fighting a losing battle??
Personal experience draws on the conclusion that Glyphosate products (no matter how strong) do not kill off Horestails. Strong Glyphosate products may burn the foliage off within a week or two but shortly afterwards, the same stems are poking up out of the ground once again, almost lauging in your face.
If you want something that WILL kill them off (but as with all avaialabe weedkillers these days, it will take time - possibly years), two products have been developed with Horsetails in mind and neither are Glyphosate-based. Kaskara and Pearl.
Kaskara is selective - kills everything but grass (if mixed correctly) and Pearl kills everything (the better of the two for Horsetails). They are agricultural grade products and can be purchased easily.... BUT should be used with caution (preferably with sprayers licences). PM me if you need more details.
I think if I had this in my beds coming through from elsewhere, I'd dig out sections to about a foot and a half deep, lay tough landscaping fabric (making sure the sides of the trench were lined as well as the bottom), and then replace the soil after sifting to remove all traces of root. Then move on to the next section until eventually all the beds were done in this way. Obviously you'd need to go deeper for deep rooted plants.
Landscape fabric is no match for Mares Tail Will. Absolutely zero.
As Dave says, "landscape fabric is no match for Mares Tail, Will...."
Horsetail/marestail will grow through tarmac ...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I recently took over an allotment that has along with adjacent alloments, a profusion of mares tail. Having used Gallup Hi-active 490 weed killer for a number of years I tried spraying as per normal weeds to no avail. I suspect that due to the tough waxy stem and fronds , killer was not getting through and eventually washing off with watering and rain. I am having very promising results with Gallup ( undiluted ) mixed into wallpaper paste.Brush it on. Certainly killing it at surface level , it remains to be seen if the systemic action takes it further. Do not rotovate , it will only increase itself . Constructing a barrier is useless as root go down to 7ft (2m). RHS reckons whatever course is taken ,it will take 3-4 yrs to eradicate.
Last edited: 03 July 2017 19:21:43
This works for me. Your normal mix of Round Up, in my case about 15 litres, then 1/4 litre of Rush Killer and finally a good dollop of Fairy Liquid. Does the trick for me,
I've been trying for a couple of years to get rid of the stuff. We have a few raised beds, and due to injury weren't able to do much one-year and it took over. We have managed to dig out a massive amount of roots, digging down a few feet, riddling the soil and picking bits out. All appeared good this season, with just one of two marestail popping up and application of SBK appeared to kill them off well. Roofing the soil over today, after not being dug this summer, I find a fine mat of tendrils going in all directions, with the telltale signs of marestail on some ends. How do I kill this off without letting it get to the surface as a green shoot. Years ago sodium chlorate would have helped. I don't mind sterilising the soil for year, so anything that is active in the soil is needed, not something that relies on leaves being present.
HELP