Laying a new lawn on existing soil (MARE'S TAIL!!!)
greg15
Posts: 1
Hi all,
We have an existing lawn in our back garden, that is quite badly affected with Mare's Tail. It's not a huge problem as we keep it short through the summer and it looks reasonable.
Recently we had a new extension built onto our house and during this time the existing lawn was pretty much destroyed. We're now planning a new lawn and was hoping to get some feedback on our potential plan...
Firstly I'll be digging out the existing grass before I prepare the ground for new turf, but I was thinking about digging down a few inches, laying a thick weed control fabric fabric then applying several tonnes of new soil on top before laying the new soil.
I fully appreciate this won't keep it away forever but may keep it under control for a while at least. The Mare's Tail infestation is well established and been there several years so we're not going to try and battle it.
Does this sound mad? or perfectly reasonable?
Thanks in advance for your advice,
Greg
Posts
Sounds pretty pointless to be honest. Marestail will grow through the weed control fabric over time so all you're doing is spending money to delay the inevitable. Mowing does seem to weaken it over time so I would just stick with that.
By digging down I think you'll actually make the problem worse Greg. As KT53 said the Mares Tail will break through any weed control fabric with ease and the actual process of digging will mean you will be breaking parts of the plant which will then grow from any small part left or broken off so you will multiply the problem X-fold.
I had it in my lawn at my last house. The only partial success I had was bruising the main stem then brushing on RoundUp Stump killer (after wrapping each plant in tinfoil to prevent damage to the grass). I mixed the solution with a little fairy liquid which helps it stay on the plant longer. I did notice that a small area of surrounding grass would always die and I guess this was the weedkiller being drawn into the root system of the mares tail and affecting adjacent plants?
I used to keep the lawn fairly short as I often read this would weaken the mares tail but to be honest I don't think I noticed and deterioration to it's health.
I did read once that the best thing to do if you had mares tail was...........move house!
I spent 3 years pulling mares tail from the garden and over the years, it has weakened and there was a lot less of it.
Last year I dug the whole back garden up to level it and spent weeks picking out the long black mares tail roots from the soil....must have filled at least 3 rubble sacks with roots just from an area about 30m square. I know I will not have pulled it all, but you just have to keep on it and pull every bit you see. Its due to start growing again soon, so I will soon see how effective my root pulling was
Painting weedkiller on them works best if you crush the stem slightly first, but I only use weedkiller in the back lane, never in the garden.
You will probably never erradicate it, but you can get it under control with lots of weeding