Marestail / Horse tail

dollydishmop

Hi all

The brown asparagus devils are popping up, and I've done all the searches and read all the threads...but I'm presuming most of the chemical solutions are when the plant is in its green stage.

Anything I can do to it now, whilst its in it's 'asparagus' stage? If I even so much as look in its direction, it just puffs its spores all over the place.

There are no precious plants or garden areas in its imemdiate surroundings, so I am more than happy to go to all out war on it....but is there anything I can do now? Or do I need to wait until it goes all green? I do have dogs, but it would be easy enough to keep them away from these areas if all-out chemical warfare would work.

One patch that was bad last year is showing no sign this year (yet!), perhaps because I've let the nettles in that area run riot, so its been crowded out, but another patch is like a complete carpet of brown asparagus....grr!

genuine leather

Hi dolly.
The horsetail is a true survivor. Have had it in my garden for many years( i garden on a rock so all my soil was brought in along with the tail)
It so frustrated me early years,still does to an extent,but for me personally i have grown fond of it. Reasons..... its a real life, plant dinosaur,tens of millions of years old. Its roots extend up to ten meters underground,
(traces of gold have been found within the plant :-) ), Because its roots mine so deep it is extremely mineral rich.Now i use it as a mulch around plants and veg, some in the compost heaps, also a really good liquid plant tea can be made from it.

I have so much of it on my rock , i have just learned to use for my benefit and i see it as another plant harvest for use around my garden.

To my knowledge, it does not like fertile and enriched ground ( and eventually will loose its grip if the ground is kept fertile) and thrives better on poorer ground, Early on, weed killer did not work for me at all, you could try the putting down wet cardboard also, mulch on top and starve it of light. Its a hard plant to get rid of. Hope this helps.

Interested to see what others chime in with
GL

My Potatoes

There's some advice here:
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=257

I think a tea can be made of it that's used as an organic blight spray, but I don't know how effective it is.

scoobydoobie

As far as i know, it can be used to make a silicon feed for other plants.

dollydishmop

Thanks guys...I know i have 'control' options once its gone green, but I hoped there was something I could do now, whilst its brown and asparagus-y, to stop it getting to that point.

Ironically, its poisonous to horses, and other livestock, and its bordering farmland. So I don't want to spread out to the pasture, and I also want it gone from here.

GL's suggestion of wet cardboard smothering and mulch sounds like an interesting option. I'll be raiding my local supermarket for boxes over the weekend I think

Thanks again

Lillydee

Had horse tail for years, it ruined my garden which I put a lot of money into. I tried everything, I even dug everything up and left the ground bare for a few years to try and kill it. In the end I gave up as it was just too much, :-(( I'd love to hear any success stories!

Salmonman

The only thing that will kill mares tail is rush killer

VirtualWorld

I mentioned this in another thread today, but I'll say it again here too. I've been squeezing the asparagus buds with a pliers and spraying with vinegar. It seems to be killing each individual sprout so far at least. They turn black and appear to rot. Hope is it will get down to the roots and slow the thing. I see it as a chore that needs to be done every few evenings. Weedkiller didn't work at all. Vinegar is well documented.
As previously mentioned I've also used it to great success as a compost tea. However, much as it's useful, it takes over in an area where I really don't want it.
Good luck to us both.

geordief

Not a cure just an observation.Mine has spread way into the lawn and obviously cutting the lawn keeps it at bay.
It doesn't seem to have spread anywhere else in the garden that I have noticed.
It is at the base of a rockery and next to the drive.

VirtualWorld

As I understand it, keeping it cut, as in a lawn situation, eventually kills it because the plant underneath is not getting enough energy from growth/light. I believe keeping it cut back over four or five years will see the plant weaken significantly and eventually kill it. Ideally you want to be pulling the plants shoots from below the soil line. And definitely as soon as you see it to prevent spores from spreading which happens early on in growth. However it's a whole lot easier said than done. Once it starts to come up it seems to REALLY fly up. If I think of it in a few months I will report back on my success or lack thereof with the vinegar. Certainly everything I've squashed and touched has died back so far. Question now is whether it will beat me through volume as it takes off....