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Mares Tail
bradley.pyne
Posts: 2
Hi I have moved in to a property with my 12 year old son renting through a Housing Association, I work full time and am a single parent
The property was in a state when we moved in and because the garden was relatively tidy I started to focus on inside.
Its now clear that the property has had a problem with mares tail prior to moving in and for many years. As confirmed by a few neighbours
The association provided one treatment for the previous tenant and now telling me its all my responsibility.
Would you have any solutions or advice that would help me eradicate or alleviate the mares tail weed
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
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Hi bradley. I have been trying for 30 years to get rid of it - without success and I'm sure other members will say something similar. All I do now is to pull off all the stems - at ground level - that pop up and that is all that I can do to keep it uder control. Don't bother spending lots of money on expensive 'treatments' - they may work temporarily but the darned stuff pops up again. Don't hoe it as this just breaks up the Mare's Tail and each little bit will grow roots and take off again. Rest assured you are not alone in this battle
Hiya! We're working on an infestation which had established itself in the front garden of the house we bought, underneath a plastic membrane and gravel.
In winter I dug out all the root I could get at, this took me down 3 spade depths in places where I found horizontal roots like virgin broadband cables! I removed and disrupted as much as I could then improved the soil and waited .... this spring only a few bits have come up so far, and those I've chased down again into the subsoil. Some near the edges we've hit with glyphosate, bruising them slightly first.
Glyphosate appears to kill it to the first junction with a deep horizontal root which then seals itself off and puts up a shoot elsewhere. So it upsets and weakens it but won't eradicate it.
There is a product called Kurtail which seems to get good reviews (along with accusations of significant toxicity).
I think it's a matter of doing everything you can to weaken it, hit it with chemicals if you're not organic, improve the soil, ( it's favourite habitat is heavy to waterlogged impoverished soil) and above all don't let it photosynthesise!
Best set of luck ... I'll be interested to hear how you get on
I found this discussion from Allotment Garden.org about mares tail.
http://www.allotment-garden.org/gardening-information/weed-control/control-horse-mares-tail-equisetum-arvense/
Last edited: 26 July 2016 17:28:45
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'
Marestail doesn't like competition so ground cover plants help to control it, but not eradicate it. I would suggest trampling on the marestail to bruise it, assuming there aren't other plants there, and then spray with high concentration glyphosate. Once it dies back try to get other stuff planted a.s.a.p.
Thank you for your replies it's much appreciated and albeit horrible it's nice to know it's not just me. I have to admit I didn't realise what it was until far to late because of trying to strip the inside. I have a 100ft garden which is Unmanageable in all fairness. I have covered an area of ground with tarpaulins to try and block some of the light I wasn't aware of the weed beforehand so I spent a small fortune on weedkillers of all kinds and doesn't help that I strimmer an area of it to take the heads off to spray. I think I may have to give the kurtail a try once I get paid. Thank you once again for your really helpful comments. Will let you know how I get on ?