[enaben]

hello, I  obtained an allotment just over a year ago, having never grown anything before.   I have a major problem with a weed, I am told is called " Mares Tail". last year it beat me almost to the point of giving in, but I tried again this year. I have problems with health and find digging hard but i managed to dig 2 12ft x 5ft beds,removing a large amount of root of this weed and within a week its back again. devastated by this ,after a great deal of effort and pain to dig it out, I am being told that it is immpossible to clear this weed. any one know how I can beat this problem. I  am told weed killer wont work, trying to dig it out didnt work. I need expert advice.           Or a lend of a JCB.

[Yorkie]

Welcome to the site 

Marestail is indeed a nightmare.  It's a prehistoric age weed so you can get some idea of its survival instincts 

Weedkiller only works on marestail if you bruise the leaves to allow it to penetrate its silica coating.  Use a glyphosate based product as it's systemic and will take the chemicals to the roots.

You will manage to weaken it by repeated removal, though I do understand it's difficult to keep digging.  An alternative is very regular hoeing - if the plant isn't allowed to get too big it gets a little starved of energy.

Good luck!

[MoreWhisky]

I just pull mine up getting as much length as i can before it snaps off.  I find it a very unsightly weed but thats all the damage it seems to do really, most things seem to grow with it fine.

[mumofstig]

Hoe and hoe again! As Aunt Sally says, never let it see a sunday 

It gradually weakens, but I've never managed to get rid of it all....you just learn to live with it

[fletch]

Eurgh! Mine is worse than ever this year  . I agree with what Aunt Sally says by never letting it see a Sunday but would add "or a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.........."
I hoe mine off every other day and it's just as bad when I go back.

I will not let it beat me I will not let it beat me I will not let it beat me I will not let it beat me I will not let it beat me I will not let it beat me I will not let it beat me

 

[Goosegirl]

I have a solution - literally! My neighbour bought some Doff Tough weedkiller and gave me some last year for the dreaded Mares' Tail which was romping through my lawn and had established itself into a "sea-shore" stone and gravel bed. I sprayed it about August and it REALLY, REALLY didn't like it and withered away. So far this year, although some is coming up in the opposite border which I didn't see last year for the plants, there is only ONE bit showing in the seashore bed which was by a yucca that died over winter and which I missed spraying. Oh please God - let it be gone!  Mowing the lawn regularly doesn't work and digging it out is nigh impossible. I also have a mega-variety in a nearby dyke at the back close to my veg beds and a piece tried to get into one of them - it was horrible but the roots seemed different and didn't go down too far so I hoicked it out - I hope I'm not speaking too soon but, so far, that hasn't returned either.

[Lulu]

Yep - I got this on my lottie too.  It seems to be growing really well this year.  We sprayed when we first cleared the allotment and since then I just keep hoeing it or digging it up.  I think its indestructible but manageable.  It is less evident than it was - when we first go the lottie it was awash with it and now its more sporadic. I have the other weed that never goes away as well - bind weed!!!  Keeps me busy all this weeding

[peanut]

Got some too in patches, luckily I managed to get rid of a lot of the spores in March and it doesn't seem as vigourous this year.

[Kristen]

I have a solution - literally! My neighbour bought some Doff Tough weedkiller and gave me some last year for the dreaded Mares' Tail which was romping through my lawn and had established itself into a "sea-shore" stone and gravel bed. I sprayed it about August and it REALLY, REALLY didn't like it and withered away.

Dunno if its changed, but Doff Tough Weekiller used to be based on Ammonium Sulphamate, which was indeed very successful against Marestail, but has been banned for several years AFAIK ... although given its chemical composition its hard to imagine why

John has some strong views about it:
http://www.allotment-garden.org/garden-diary/189/ammonium-sulphamate-weed-killer-banned/

Although its still available as a compost accelerator ...

[enaben]

It sounds like doffs tough could be the answer, but being ruled by Brussels (not the sprout) means it cant be used. so it seems it is just constant digging and pulling and hoeing. how many years do i keep this up before i get any where near beating it. I wouldnt mind if It was edible, could make a fortune selling marestail pie. .

[digalotty]

chase it along and get as much as you can out every time, you can improve the drainage that will help too

[peterjf]

it took me 3 yrs to get rid of my mares tail, repeated bruising and spraying,

[missycat]

I took 7 compost bags of mare's tail root to the tip this weekend from an area 10 sq metres after double digging (plus some extra where the roots went deeper). I did the same on an area 15sq metres last year and it's back there again this year though not quite so prolific (I hoe it off every few days or nip top growth off just below the surface to keep it under control).
Glyphosate weed killer just cleared away the competing weeds and gave the mare's tail mre space.  
I've even put a double layer of woven weed suppressant down to grow veg through in other areas but it's coming through that!!
I now think you just have to live with it, hoeing it off to clear the top growth so at least the beds look tidy...as Morewhiskey says it doesn't seem to affect crops so don't kill yourself fighting a battle you can't win  

[granjan]

it took me 3 yrs to get rid of my mares tail, repeated bruising and spraying,

I agree.  It's the only thing I use weedkiller on.  Bruising it first makes a lot of difference.  I wouldn't like to say it gone completely yet, but compared with what I had to start with, it's manageable and there is less each year 

[monsta]

nowt you can do apart from constant hoeing!