[SusieB]

I have Mare's Tail in my lawn, which I am attempting to control by mowing.  There is some in the flower bed, which I am chopping back as soon as it appears.  Can I compost the lawn mowings? I know it grows back from bits of root, does it grow back from the tops?
Many thanks for any advice.

[penance]

Doesnt seem to grow from the tops, i compost ours from the lawn clippings.

[dexyblue]

mine grows back from the tops 

[compo]

  Burn it, burn it again, then when its cooled right down and looks all charred and black, burn it some more........then throw it into a volcano in Iceland

[Lewjam]

I agree

destroy with extreme prejudice

Burn Burn and Burn some more.

Unless your compost bin gets as hot as the sun, just burn it! 

[Aunt Sally]

The old boys on our allotments say you can nail it to a south facing barn door for two years and if you drop it on the ground after that it will still grow 

[peapod]

I agree

destroy with extreme prejudice

Burn Burn and Burn some more.

Unless your compost bin gets as hot as the sun, just burn it! 

You got this problem too? 

[stentman]

Mares tail is the kind of thing that if planted on contamined disused steelwork slag heaps and watered only with sulphric acid it would still grow and thrive. To get rid of the stuff simply stick it amongst the glowing cherry red embers of your BBQ for a few hours only then can you bin it. Caution though it may not be dead.

[penance]

Weird, i've never had any problems chuckig the green tops in the compost bin.

[SUTTY1]

i've read a thread on hear,by a very senior member, saying u can dry it 4 6 weeks then compost it!!!!
i'm even worried about using poo after the chickens have eaten it!!!

like a real nerd i've planted the needles and they grow well

[SusieB]

I think it's the root that you can nail to the wall/plant on a slag heap.  Maybe it's the tops that don't grow back (without a little bit of root), but with all the bad experiences mentioned above, now I'm not sure.........

[hardcore]

Someone advised me to use Doff Tough weed killer to get rid of Mares Tail.  I’ve not used it yet, so I can’t confirm its effectiveness.  If anyone has, would you please enlighten me/us.  I shall try it later this year and let you know the result.  Here’s hoping it works, (my memory, that is.)

[SUTTY1]

its rumoured to have been around for 60 million yrs(ice age and all) weed killers will slow it down though. i've had some success with round-up on a flagged area, hardly any growth this year but IT WILL BE BACK.

Did anyone see Gardeners World when they planted it in pots around a pond, they must be mad. OK the roots are contained but what about the shoots that have the spores on that blow like dandelion seeds??

[Kristen]

Someone advised me to use Doff Tough weed killer to get rid of Mares Tail.  I’ve not used it yet, so I can’t confirm its effectiveness.  If anyone has, would you please enlighten me/us.  I shall try it later this year and let you know the result.  Here’s hoping it works, (my memory, that is.)

Doff Tough weed killer used to include Ammonium sulphamate but the manufacturers didn't seek to get approval when the rules changed (John wrote about it, I agree with him that its chemically pretty simple, so unlikely to be an issue .. Ho!hum!)

Anyways, Doff Tough weed killer is now formulated based on Glyphosate, so I don't think its likely to be any more effective than any other Glyphosate weed-killer - the advice for which tends to be bash/bruise the plant before applying, or cut and then "inject" into the hollow tube-like stems - either way, lots of effort.

Ammonium sulphamate still available as a compost heap accelerator - amazing isn't it, as both routes must get the chemical back into the environment I would think - but don't spill any whilst carrying it to the compost heap 'coz you'll be breaking the law ...  

[savbo]

Someone advised me to use Doff Tough weed killer to get rid of Mares Tail.  I’ve not used it yet, so I can’t confirm its effectiveness.  If anyone has, would you please enlighten me/us.  I shall try it later this year and let you know the result.  Here’s hoping it works, (my memory, that is.)

Ammonium sulphamate still available as a compost heap accelerator - amazing isn't it, as both routes must get the chemical back into the environment I would think - but don't spill any whilst carrying it to the compost heap 'coz you'll be breaking the law ...  

Oh dear I wouldn't want to make that mistake! You don't happen to know which compost accelerators contain this terrible chemical so I can avoid them?

 
M