[Bigbadfrankie]

I am trying a flame gun this year. Also puling the lace like roots out when ever I have the time.

[peterjf]

mares tail / field mares tail  can be beaten by ,

as it appears in spring take lawn rake to it and damage it , bruise it because it has silica protection built in ,

work on the patch for 5 minutes with the lawn rake then spray with glyphosate at 40ml per 5 lt water, continue until all the mares tail has been treated with the sprayer

2 months later do the same again ,

then in september do the same again a third time and you should notice the defference the following spring ,


in spring the remainder of mares tail will pop up again , rake , bruise, spray, as you have already done , by september the mares tail should be less by 2/3 ,

the silica protecting the mares tail starts to reproduce after only 10 minutes , so get the spray on within the 10 minute time limit, even if it means just doing small patches of mares tail at a time

[acrobatic toast]

On my plot it was full of marestail /horsetail you never really get rid off it but with hoeing you can get it under control .One thing ive noticed is that beds that have had a lot of manure compost on dont seem to have as much horsetail compared with beds that havent had so much . I wonder if mares/horsetail dont like rich or healthy soil ?Anyone else notice this 

[Kristen]

"I wonder if mares/horsetail dont like rich or healthy soil ?Anyone else notice this"

I have read that in lots of places.  No personal experience though. Its only growing here in some relatively poor ground (at the moment ...)

[Goosegirl]

I read recently on this forum about someone using 25% industrial acetic acid on mare's tail and it didn't reappear (so far) - can't remeber who it was but I am going to try it. I also have some Root Out that I will give a go. If that doesn't get rid of it, I'll eat all my beetroot (which I loath and detest but MOH loves!).

[aelf]

Hiya

Horsetail is a bit like a tatoo. Once you have it, you're stuck with it. The species has been around for millions of years - longer than any other plant species growing today. All you can really do is keep digging it up or hoeing it off.

Sorry 

Aelf

[Yorkie]

I also have some Root Out that I will give a go.

Can I just point out (as stated in the original post) that Root Out was banned a year ago and that its use is illegal - therefore can't be condoned here.  You should dispose of it legally at your local council waste disposal site.

[fatbelly]

Two years ago when I took over my plot I had enough Mares Tail to sink a battleship.
Whenever I dig the plot I always pull out any roots and as soon as another Mares Tail shows its ugly head I cut it off with the Hoe.

The secret is to Hoe it and Hoe it and Hoe it again and then Hoe it again.
It eventually weakens and I now have far less this year than last year or the year before that.

Keep on Hoeing it off.

[Babstreefern]

Sorry Chuffy, you are now speaking to the expert bindweeder digga uppa   Give me bindweed anytime.  My previous plot was full of bindweed (no marestail), and within a couple of years, I could see that I had broken its back with pulling it out, where marestail just keeps coming back.  It just won't go away.

[DavidT]

Just a bit of useless information but did you know that the root of Marestail has been known to go as deep as 9 metres? Making it vitually impossible to get rid of.

[chris.selvey]

Just a bit of useless information but did you know that the root of Marestail has been known to go as deep as 9 metres? Making it vitually impossible to get rid of.

I have heard that too, but that it grows up to 30ft deep, which is more or less the same, but even though digging at it certainly helps, you are never going to get rid of it. I have had it for over 8 years with constant digging and got a feeling that its never going to fullly disapear

[peapod]

I heard that they used to find the roots in mineshafts!

[chris.selvey]

Not sure if anyone knows the history, or even cares, but it was first introduced into Britain to put onto the railway embankments. The roots were used to 'bind' the soil together and stop land-slides during heavy rain and also to make it 'look green'.

[savbo]

hmmm it might have been enouraged to grow there but it's a British native species as far as I know...

[Bigbadfrankie]

If you roll it or other wise damage it before spaying with round ect the spray has a much better effect on it. My worst patch is grassed over.