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the weed called marestail or horsetail
in Talkback
HELLO to everyone here is one for you does anybody know how to get rid of this weed i have been gardening now for over forty years and still can't get rid of it i have masses of it on my Allotment iv'e also dug down at least 4,metres and the roots keep going down is there any new methods out there that i don't know about HELP!
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you can't, sorry.
The best you can hope for is " to keep on top of it" . Some bruise it then spray with glyphosate, some constantly hoe it , but you'll never get rid of it IMHO.
I've been told that liming the soil can discourage it (but you'll never get rid of it) - but of course that then limits your use of the allotment for your veg.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I once managed to get rid of a small patch of it from my front garden by digging down whenever it appeared above ground and removing as much root as I could. Do this religiously and it will weaken and die.
My back garden is clay so that method is impractical, so I gently pull any growth from the base, which usually brings several inches of root with it. This will keep it under control, but I don't expect to ever get rid of it.
4m is a deep hole.
I'm told that gravediggers report its roots 2m down, and I did read somewhere that they've also been found down mines! I'm inclined to take that one with a large pinch of salt though. Or I would if my blood pressure......
I don't use chemical killers but I have reduced them dramatically by just pulling them up as soon as they appear. They come up easily and where, when we arrived, there were dozens, now I only see about ten shoots each year.
I have some coming through the stone on the patio area, I just rip it off regularly and though I can't get rid of it the regular destruction of the green growth keeps it weak and it has not proved invasive.
Plot next to mine was badly invested with it 4 years ago along the boundary fence along with blackberry and raspberry plants!
The plot holder told me she was having an organic and wildlife plot, she had three little raised beds which she planted I know not what as nothing ever got to grow as they were soon overgrown by weeds, as for wildlife another plot holder trapped rats and rabbits on it, as she had given up after her first season!
As the mares tails were coming many metres into my plot I sprayed her side with "VERDONE" more than once,and where it poked through my soil I wrapped it with a verdone soaked rag placed inside a pop bottle with the base cut out!
Last year the brambles and raspberry canes were burned and there was not any sign of mares tails in my plot or along the boundary!
Verdone "must" not be used on soil used for the cultivation of veggies, so if used do not cultivate any there!
If you want to get rid of it,use verdone and ignore the so called no chemicals in my space brigade!
Cheers
Hoe and hoe again. Allotment plots near mine have lots of horse tails especially those that rotavate. When it pops up on my plot I just hoe and keep hoeing - it seems to work. I suppose it might be difficult if it comes up in flower beds and awkward places, but keep hoeing.