Author Topic: Mares Tail (Read 8569 times)

Nettles · « **on:** May 23, 2005, 22:44:24 »

Last year was our very first allotment but we only had a half plot. It was a huge success so we got a whole plot this year but a neighbour explained that this particular one was infested with Mares Tail. It looks like a little Christmas Tree but all my neighbours keep mentioning it and telling me it's IMPOSSIBLE to get rid of but don't let it spread.

I don't want to use weed killer as the planting season has just got under way and although not strictly organic I would like not to put chemicals on the plot so has anyone got any suggestions please. ???

caz 406 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 23, 2005, 23:07:50 »

Hi Nettles, we are blighted with mares tail on our allotments too. Nothing seems to get rid of it. We just keep digging it up by the roots rather than just yanking the tops off - sometimes pull up pieces of it that are over two feet long. Like you say though it's difficult once you've started planting things. Caz

Ceri · « **Reply #2 on:** May 23, 2005, 23:09:52 »

I'm a fellow suffer - there have been a couple of threads in the past about mare's tail - might be worth a search.

The two things that I do are firstly to shade it out - it doesn't like being under things with big leaves as it is so thin and has no real leaves it doesn't do well without sun. The other is just to keep hoeing it - it doesn't kill it, but as its roots are way down I'm told it doesn't take the nutrients nearer the surface that most veg us, so I just try and keep it down.

I've read that if you grow turnips really thickly like a green manure for several seasons it kills it, but I have my doubts

Good luck!

Multiveg · « **Reply #3 on:** May 24, 2005, 11:43:55 »

Marestail can have a good use - bung some in water for stewing, then use the liquid as a spray for seedlings and things- if my memory serves me right and I not got time to look on the web, marestail is full of silicon, and using it as a foliar feed helps against dampening off....

ellkebe · « **Reply #4 on:** May 24, 2005, 21:19:57 »

Dominique - what does 'doesn't do toxins like couch grass' mean?! I have loads of couch grass and am now really alarmed!! :)

Mrs Ava · « **Reply #5 on:** May 24, 2005, 22:20:14 »

We have it all over out site, I just keep pulling it up. Doesn't really bother me. Mini elves christmas trees! ;D Nettles are worse in my opinion - I am becoming less and less tolerant of the stings and they spread faster than I can dig 'em! Just keep pulling the mares tail up and binning it - don't compost it unless you have a SUPER hot compost heap!

PREMTAL · « **Reply #6 on:** May 26, 2005, 03:04:32 »

Hi Nettles,
This is my 3rd season as an allotment member, when I saw the state that the plot was in I should have said no thanks.

Being me I had this perverse idea that it was a challenge, the abundant Horsetail stood about 2 feet high like a miniature forrest.

I made the decision that I would have to dig down to the clay level and remove the old root system if I was going to be master of this weed.

It took a season and a bit to clear one side of my plot, my wife had been talking to an old friend of the family about my Horsetail problem.(he once had his own plot)

He said to to treat the clay level with the rock salt that they use for the roads in winter because the weed does not like salt.

I followed the instruction back filling as I progressed up the plot and left it to over winter. season 2 the weed came up in patches but nothing like forrest I had inherited. It is still there but I am now in control of it and can cultivate all the medicinal herbs that I need.

PS:- Horsetail is a medicinal herb used in the treatment of incontinence, and is considered to be a specific in the treatment of benign enlargement of the prostate gland.
In German herbal medicine they use an extract of this herb to treat osteoporosis because of the high silicic acid content of the herb.
If you get a cut break off a stem and rub the sap on the wound the astringent action will stop the blood flow and heal the wound.

PREMTAL ;)

Aidy · « **Reply #7 on:** May 26, 2005, 09:58:41 »

Though I still yet to find a method of killing it I have found a method of controlling it, first it hates being cut down, I discovered this when I change my paths from carpet to grass and keep them well mowed it has all but disappeared so I now grow as much as I can under weed guard (fabric) to block the sunlight, then when I have taken up the crop dig as much of the roots out, I figure this weaken and eventually kill it off.
This is long term, I tried the short term stuff with little or no success

clairenpaul · « **Reply #8 on:** May 26, 2005, 14:16:45 »

We're plagued with the stuff - one corner of our garden was also a forest of tiny Christmas trees! We were told that the only way weed killer would work would be to bruise the stems with a roller before applying it but that would have taken years so we dug up as much as we could and have put black weed fabric, 4" of hardcore and a patio over the top of most of the area - we couldn't believe it when it started coming through between the slabs >:(.
We spoke to a chap at our local garden centre and he said the only way to get rid of it is to keep pulling it up as soon as it peeps out of the ground and eventually (after several years!!!) it may die.Great news...

Nettles · « **Reply #9 on:** May 26, 2005, 23:13:58 »

Hi PREMTAL and everyone else who offered advice , thank you.

On the question of Mares Tail not liking salt would just giving it a local dose of salt solution damage it as this sounds like the least harmful to my veggires?

We have beautiful soil with no clay at least not as far as I have dug so far so wondered if might work!! ???

Rose.mary · « **Reply #10 on:** May 26, 2005, 23:37:23 »

We have a plot on our site that is covered with horsetail (marestail grows in water so I am told). The council sprayed it 3 times last year and it has come up good and strong this year again, and also spread to the next two plots. I have read up about it on the internet and on advice have ordered some Amcide from Organic Garden Catalogue.
I was told to bruise it because the leaves are waxy and won't absorb the chemicals otherwise. So today I have been bashing it with the back of a spade. One of the wits on site asked if I was trying to beat it to death.
Because it is a big plot I have divided it up with string so I can treat a bit at a time. and hope to at least keep it under control.
By-the-way don't let it spore or you and everybody around will have a lot more next year.
This plot does not belong to anybody but I have taken a strong dislike to horsetail and I am going to try to control it as much as I can.
Wish me luck!

Rosemary

PREMTAL · « **Reply #11 on:** May 27, 2005, 01:34:54 »

Hi Nettles,
You could give the local application a try, if nothing else at least the slugs will vacate the area PDQ.

PS:- I will give that a go on the uncultivated part of my plot where I have not yet attacked it.

PPS:- I have also been told that if you are intending to
spray Horsetail with herbicide, that you should spray the weed with a weak solution of vinegar the day before.

The vinegar breaks down the waxy outer coating and allows the herbicide to enter and do its work.

PREMTAL :)

ajb · « **Reply #12 on:** May 28, 2005, 22:22:22 »

I feel oddly comforted that so many others can't get rid of this stuff. (yep it is "horse tail" I've got Mare's tail in my pond - it's quite friendly). I've gone for clover / grass paths and hope they'll out-compete it since they'll be strimmed.

It's in the beds too though and I was getting concerned that it would look like Christmas tree plot if I turned my back for a minute. I just keep snapping it off, it doesn't seem to be getting any weaker. If I could use it as a spray, maybe I could claim it is an inter-crop.

The half of the allotment that was under black plastic for most of the summer/autumn doesn't have so much. Instead that half has bind-weed popping up!

spacehopper · « **Reply #13 on:** May 31, 2005, 11:18:46 »

Quote from: Rose.mary on May 26, 2005, 23:37:23

...So today I have been bashing it with the back of a spade. One of the wits on site asked if I was trying to beat it to death...

:D lol

redimp · « **Reply #14 on:** May 31, 2005, 16:55:28 »

Is mares tail in the pond a problem - can its roots pierce pond liner and invade my plot?

return of the mac · « **Reply #15 on:** May 31, 2005, 17:40:03 »

Try vinegar- killed my dandelion and buttercup- let me know if it works for horsetail

kitty · « **Reply #16 on:** May 31, 2005, 19:56:23 »

it grows on the sandy part of my plot-so i p u l l it up very gently so as to get as much of the root.one of these days the rest of the horse is gonna come with it! ;D

redimp · « **Reply #17 on:** June 08, 2005, 16:05:42 »

Right - confused - are mare's tail and horse's tail two different things? (Cannot find wildflower books at the moment)

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #18 on:** June 08, 2005, 23:06:44 »

They're both Equisetum, but I think the names are applied to different species.

PREMTAL · « **Reply #19 on:** June 09, 2005, 03:08:44 »

Hi Redclanger,
Mare's Tail and Horsetail are common names for the same plant, the latin name is what you should always go by as plants have different common names around the country. ::)

The latin name is Equisetum arvense and although a plague to lottie types it is a healing herb.

it is used to treat incontinence and bed wetting due to the astringent actions on the bladder, it is also considered specific for inflamation and benign enlargement of the prostate gland in herbal medicine. :)

If you get a cut break off a green stem and rub the sap on the wound as it promotes healing of the wound. ;)

PREMTAL

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Author Topic: Mares Tail (Read 8569 times)