Mare's Tail (Equisetum arvense)

[Mart_got_hives]

There's a problem with Mare's Tail at my allotment site. Many years ago some genius thought it was pretty and planted some, since then it's spread across the area and this years shoots are coming through on my patch at the mo. I need to get some Curtail sorted but in the meantime I've been advised to cut new shoots to starve the roots - is it safe to compost these cuttings?

 

[BeeJayBee]

Don't cut new shoots, pull them gently and vertically, out of the ground.

I compost them, but only after they've been left long enough to dry out.

 

[B+.]

There's a problem with Mare's Tail at my allotment site.

Its a hard thing to get rid off. You just need to leave a tiny bit and it regrows. This is one thing I would reach for the Roundup for (and blackberries)

 

[Mart_got_hives]

Thanks, it's going to be a case of controlling it rather than eradicating it as it's growing unchecked on other parts of the site

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[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thanks, it's going to be a case of controlling it rather than eradicating it as it's growing unchecked on other parts of the site

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give the whole lot a squirt of glyphosate then it's a real pig - almost as bad as knotweed, the roots go down further than you think and I've seen it push through tarmacadam on driveways. (and not the stuff laid down by those nice gentlemen with spotted kerchiefs and gold earrings )

 

[enrico]

The only solution is to move......I did!

 

[Beeline]

Roundup does the trick. Been there.

It's an amazing plant actually. I believe it has the highest quantity of silicon in any known plant. Mashed and applied as a poultice to wounds it's known as the bone healer but apparently has other beneficial properties. Good read.
https://recipesfromthewild.wordpress.com/wild-horse-tail/