[wasthiswise]

I took on a 2nd plot last autumn, which has a really serious marestail problem. I'd appreciate anyone's opinion whose had experience of this ghastly stuff on what I'm planning to do or whether its a non-starter.

This plot is truly ridden with marestail. An absolute carpet of the stuff; the plot has changed hands a number of times in recent years (I wonder why) and basically its completely out of control. Of the 2 neighbouring plots, one has it almost as bad, the other less so as its very actively managed by someone who is fighting a never ending war with it.

My plot has a couple of nice fruit trees, very well established at one end, which is one of the reasons why I took it on. Elsewhere it has a number of currant and gooseberries which in honesty are struggling (I guess due to the marestail); the remainder of the plot has been long ago divided into 20ft x 7ft beds now overgrown with the dreaded weed. Last autumn I 'cleared' a couple of these beds as a bit of an experiment. I dug them 1.5 spades deep and carefully got rid of every marestail root I could find. Obviously this inevitably left a small number. But I realised in doing this that deep down there was a mass of roots, like a layer about 2 ft down. It was unrealistic to be able to get rid of that. I've read elsewhere that marestail roots can go down several feet.

Anyhow I put some autumn-planting onions/garlic/shallots in one of these beds, the other I left unplanted till this spring when I put potatoes in. Result: this summer both beds now totally overridden with marestail, at least as bad as last year, and the crops I planted were basically a waste of time.

I dont believe its at all realistic to rid the plot of marestail given that even if I managed to dig it all out - an impossibility I feel - its in the ground all around the plot and just grows back in. And I know that attacking this with chemicals is basically a waste of time.

So what I'm thinking I'll do is use this plot almost entirely for soft fruit bushes and maybe some more fruit trees, and hope they can establish themselves despite the marestail. If I do this, once the bushes/trees are planted I can then cover over pretty much all the ground entirely with a double layer of mypex suppressant fabric or equivalent with just the trees and bush stems poking through. Then hopefully over time the marestail will weaken and it wont be especially hard to manage. When I plant the new bushes (autumn), to give them a fighting chance to establish themselves I'll carefully remove as much marestail as poss in the vicinity and dig in plenty of manure etc (marestail supposedly doesnt like rich soil).

Am I mad, or is this workable?

[RaptorUK]

You probably mean Horsetail,  Marestail is aquatic.

Dig it out,  keep digging it out, never stop.  Weaken it to the point that you can accept it's presence then live with it.

[brokenglass]

Horsetail will push the fabric up as it grows, I know I tried that when I planted a Strawberry Bed.     If you keep pulling it/hoeing it as much as you can you will weaken it and eventually be able to live with it.     If you leave enough space between the rows of onions to use a hoe then you can keep on top of the Horsetail and crop your onions.     IT tends to grow in poorly drained acid soils so as you improve the soil the Horsetail doesn't have the conditions which suit it best.    I was advised by a very good gardener that worrying about Horsetail won't solve anything.

[simonwatson]

I can't really imagine marestail having much of an effect on perennial fruit bushes unless it's so thick that it's sucking all the moisture and nutrients out of the soil.

If you've got access to a roller, you could run it over the plot to bruise all the marestail, then it takes up glyphosate much better.

You could club together with others and hire a professional to spray something like kurtail, which works really well at knocking it back.

Or you could just pull it all up and keep doing that. I've got it all through my plot, but pulling it up whenever I see it has had a noticeable effect over the last three years.

[Snoop]

A cheap solution that might work is just to take shears to it and try to do so so often that eventually it is weakened. At least the plants you chopped down wouldn't spread spores, though you'd still be stuck with any that spread from the other plots. And you wouldn't have to look at it day in, day out, which is always dispiriting.

[AnneB]

We have sifted the soil on our plot, as we had to get rid of old carpet, nails, broken glass and metal as well as the horsetail.   It was hard work and we are still doing it in our fourth year at the really bad bit at the top of the plot.  Took 15 bags of rubbish to the tip today.   OH dug up an old bottle of creosote, a rusty saw and an old paint tin as part of today's haul, as well as the usual broken glass and yes, the horsetail.     Not much more to do now...." I agree with brokenglass that as you improve the soil, the horsetail slowly gives up.  We get the odd wispy bit now and again but that is all.

[diospyros]

I have never seen  horsetail growing in a lawn.  So maybe mowing, and fruit bushes/trees would work.

[Asherweef]

I wouldn't be pessimistic as if you are there's no point to my mind of combatting it. Just keep pulling it up (as I do) and tell it off when you've got it before sticking it somewhere it wont regrow. ( )

[Markw]

I agree as diospyros has said. We have a big problem at out site with horsetail, some have turned them into a fruit plot and sown grass, all they do is cut the grass once a week they have also got a few raised beds that they grow in. Some of the plots look like cornfields, people have tried spraying them, covering them up,and digging it out., the problem is if you have a plot next to one of these it always comes back to haunt you.

[Yorkie]

As Aunt Sally says, 'never let it see a Sunday'.

[Goosegirl]

I have never seen  horsetail growing in a lawn.  So maybe mowing, and fruit bushes/trees would work.

I have seen it in mine for the last few years when the grass is growing well and not been mowed for two weeks. It spread from my front ornamental border (Brokenglass - my soil there is alkaline and well-drained too), across the lawn and into another ornamental area, though not too much. Some like Aunt Sally say pull it out as soon as you see it; some say let it grow to about 8"-9" as it expends its energy on doing that, then pull it out. As you have so much, first I'd get some boots on and really scuffle over the area to bruise the leaves. Make up some dilute but strong glyphosate and add liquid soap to help it stick to it, then spray on a windless day (wear full protective clothing, gloves and goggles then have a hose-down before removing them and pegging on the line to dry). I have heard that vinegar helps to penetrate through the silica content in the leaves; also maybe try a strong table salt solution. I feel an experiment coming on here, so let us know.

[polly nator]

Someone on here told me to dump horsemuck on it I tried an experiment with some raised beds and did some with and one without a thick layer of the manure and it seemed to work - though not 100%   and it may not always be practical to do it 

[colin120]

Try this
Sheet mulching works fine. It depends upon the size of the area of course. Knock over and spray the offending weed with a high nitrogen (for organic purposes, use Metanaturals 16-0-0) spray. Cover it with thick cardboard, a layer of compost or soil (weedfree!) and whatever good mulch you have handy. This will kill it off quickly, and enrich the soil so that each year, there will be less and less.
In lake'ch
lance