This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Mares tail
TrishaT
Posts: 3
The Garden behind us has been left for about 2 years and last year it was covered in this weed. Consequently it has spread under the wall in to mine. I kept on top of it last year in the border by digging it out but this year it is coming up through my lawn and my patio. Yesterday I dug loads out of the border I had a bucket full. The house behind are busy doing the garden now they have dug up the patio but I'm not sure what they plan to do about the weed. I'm sure it will just grow back in their garden if they do nothing. Please can anyone give me any advice on being rid of it in both the border and lawn ????
0
Posts
Field Horsetails (Equisetum arvense) are somewhat of a speciality of mine. Mare's tails are an equatic plant (just for info), although the names are frequently associated with one another.
Getting rid of horsetails is a seriously difficult task at the best of times. If you have damp, acidic soil and lots of sunshine in your garden, you are in for a serious eradication project.
As horsetails roots/rhizomes can reach astonishing depths (several metres!), digging them up is practically impossible. They can be covered with a thick, dark plastic membrane in the borders to subdue them but it may take several years to eradicate them. Or every time a new shoot appears, hoe it down but this can take a lot of vigilance... and again, several years
They seriously dislike being mown, so if you mow at least a couple of times a week while they're active (April-November, depending on your part of the country), they will give up trying to invade the lawn... eventually.
Last edited: 21 April 2017 21:22:31
A chemical warfare approach may offer a faster solution but if they are uncontrolled in your neihbour's garden, they will evetually find their way back into yours unless you're really lucky.
There are a couple of weedkiller products available that burn the silica coating off the foliage and attack the rhizomes. Many weedkillers simply run/drop off, leaving the plants unscathed.
Last edited: 21 April 2017 21:30:41
Hoe hoe hoe and mow mow mow
Mowing a couple of times a week isn't a problem, my husband is ocd with the mower. I wasn't sure if mowing the lawn would spread them so that's good to hear. I bought some roind up the one you just touch the weed. I thought I'd try to do each one in the border, but it's impossible. They come up that quick I wouldn't know which ones I'd done and which are new. It probably wouldn't work anyway. So I just got down on my knees and dug deep to get each one. Keeps me busy. I'm hoping my neighbours are going to treat their garden or dig it all out before they lay paving or lawn or they'll be wasting their time and money and I'll still have the problem.
They are just a young couple and don't really speak much. I was going to mention it when they were in the garden digging up the patio the other day but they never looked over to speak. I don't want to sound like a nosey neighbour telling them what to do. So hopefully they do know what they're doing?
TrishaT, you're in a difficult situation as it seems you've inherited the weed from your neighbours and unless they're willing to help keep it under control, it will forever be a problem in your garden. It arising through your patio is a problem. It probably likes it under there as the ground will be damp.
It can break through hardstanding mix between slabs and even through tarmac in serious infestations. Although it's not going to destroy your house like Japanese knotweed could, it is as difficult (if not harder) to get rid if and is rather unsightly.
Without any dialogue from your neighbours, you may be faced with a continuing dilemna.
I have a customer whose patio and surrounding area is infested with the stuff so have been treating it with a selective weedkiller called Kaskara that kills everything but grass. It may take years for it to be killed off but as soon as new shoots open, the area is sprayed. A touch-up stick and most over-the-counter weedkillers that are Glyphosate-based will simply be a waste of time and money as horsetails have a unique silica coating that laughs in the face of most weedkillers and practically every creature that could eat them.
If you want rid of it in your patio area, it may be worth considering buying some Kaskara or Pearl (a non-selective weedkiller) to at least control the growth in the patio. As for the borders, very careful spraying around plants or digging up, removing ALL soil from plant roots and quarantining them in pots, may be an option. Either regular spraying of emerging shoots or covering the borders with a substantial membrane for at least a couple of years may help.
But... the powerhouse behing the horsetail invasion lies in your neighbours garden and as long as they exist there, they will impose a continual threat to your garden. It may be time to spark up some neighbourly relations. Get friendly with them and eventually talk about the menace weed....