Mares tail

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boosmummy
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Mares tail

Post by boosmummy »

Ive 'taken on' a new allotment.

The local hospice needs a volunteer to help maintain their allotment for the day therapy patients (and their sensory garden), so ive decided to help them out. Im really excited about it the allotment has been sort of looked after in the past but not much, but the problem is it has loads of mares tail in it!

Whats the best way of getting rid of this ideally without chemicals etc.. because bare in mind they are going to be growing fruit and veg in there x
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lancashire lass
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Re: Mares tail

Post by lancashire lass »

boosmummy wrote:Ive 'taken on' a new allotment.


oh, how exciting )t' Hope it works out :-D

boosmummy wrote:Whats the best way of getting rid of this ideally without chemicals etc


There are then just 3 routes, all of which do not provide miracle eradication and will need lots of regular attention for several years:

1) to dig out the roots - marestail has very deep roots, well into the subsoil so often they break and regrow again. The roots also spread out so while you attend to the plants on the plot, often there is some green growth still providing food to the system elsewhere and the plants simply regrow, and often with a vengeance to re-establish itself quickly.

2) mechanical rotavation - this works by chopping the roots near the surface into smaller pieces. Each piece will have "finite" food to regrow, so if the soil is regularly rotavated, then basically each piece will eventually die as it cannot grow and re-establish itself. Also, regular rotavation means the new growth from roots much further down will be constantly chopped so eventually the food in the main root system will get used up and weaken until it dies. However, failure to keep rotavating results in multiple plants growing and the problem actually gets a lot worse and is spread out further.

3) covering with a dense weed suppressant material (thick black plastic - not cloth or cardboard) to exclude light will eventually have an effect, but this will only work if the entire surface is left covered for several years. Marestail has been around for millions of years (think dinosaur) so obviously can cope with set backs and re-establish itself once conditions improve. I had the 2 squash beds on my plot covered for nearly 5 years with heavy duty black plastic (I planted through it so the beds were still in use) and when I finally lifted the plastic off and dug the beds over, would you believe that the roots underneath were still viable! However, I can say that this method worked for me as it cut down a lot of the back breaking digging and the few plants that survived were easily dealt with.

Even if you went down the chemical route, the top growth has an impenetrable silica coating so most weedkillers available to home/allotment gardeners have very little effect anyway. I've had a lot more success using ammonium sulphamate (not sulfate) which is sold as a compost activator (see Amazon or e-Bay) It used to be the main ingredient in the old Root and Tree stump weedkiller but due to legislation was taken off the market but had nothing to do with being toxic. On the contrary, once the chemical is used, ammonium sulphamate starts to naturally break down to ammonium sulphate which is actually a fertiliser. It might be worth considering using this for perhaps footpaths if you are still concerned about putting anything on beds where there will be fruit and vegetables?
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albertajune
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Re: Mares tail

Post by albertajune »

We have it on our allotment and it is an almost impossible plant to get rid of if the ground is wanted for use now.
I have found that by continually pulling up before it becomes any size, it is getting weaker looking. This is though over 3 or 4 yrs.
As already said, it does root very deeply and a job to dig out. Just keep pulling and hoeing to keep it at bay. I don't know it can be composted as some weeds, such as bindweed, which is also very vigorous, sometimes survive and regrow. This needs to be got rid of.
Good luck with the venture and enjoy )t'
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boosmummy
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Re: Mares tail

Post by boosmummy »

ok thanks, i have some quite heavy black plastic. i might use this and plant through it, its deifintely less back breaking for me and will look a lot tidier for the allotment. then i can just cover it with either compost or woodchip xx
photos of allotment & other nice things: http://pinterest.com/girlontheplot/

Follow my blog:
http://girlontheplot.blogspot.co.uk/


Just make sure my think works are wound extra tight, and I will formulate a plan!
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billnorfolk
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Re: Mares tail

Post by billnorfolk »

boosmummy wrote:Ive 'taken on' a new allotment.

The local hospice needs a volunteer to help maintain their allotment for the day therapy patients (and their sensory garden), so ive decided to help them out. Im really excited about it the allotment has been sort of looked after in the past but not much, but the problem is it has loads of mares tail in it!

Whats the best way of getting rid of this ideally without chemicals etc.. because bare in mind they are going to be growing fruit and veg in there x


Hello there boosmummy

First let me commend you for volunteering in what not only will be an exciting project but will also mean lots of hard work for everyone >gl<
Horsetail can be a nightmare and if you are looking for a quick fix although pricey it seems the only way to go to realy get rid of quickly is the chemical way.
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I had a horsetail problem in my own garden over 40 years ago ,the more you chopped it up the more heads came back ,of course we didnt have the help of modern weed killers back then and it took over 10 years to finally rid my garden of it.
Basicaly horsetail prefers lean dry sandy soils as mine was before i started to cultivate it,(it even grows on our local beach)continually adding manure and digging the ground and being very diligant with the hoe finally got rid of it ,as my soil became richer and more fertile and moisture holding the ground it thrived on changed and eventually it went )c(
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Tink
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Re: Mares tail

Post by Tink »

It took us about 4 years of constant pulling up but eventually go rid of the beast. I believe its a very ancient plant.
good luck
Scrambled
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Re: Mares tail

Post by Scrambled »

Hi boosmummy )wav(

We inherited a garden full of the stuff and I'm really interested to see all the replies to your post.

I can only add that I have found that the areas I've really concentrated on have really seen a reduction in the amount of the stuff reappearing. I refuse to use any chemicals (so far, anyway!!) and have found that hand weeding with a trowel and digging down as deep as I can, following the root system and hoiking it out as much as possible has made a difference.

I also got rid of all the plants that were in the area and am postponing any permanent planting until I've had a year of just pouncing on the mares tail in the hope that it won't be quite as prevalent in future {rofwl}


It's made it's way through tarmac at our place too and also through weed suppressing membrane - in fact, the membrane has doubled the problem because the wretched stuff grows through it and I've found it's impossible to dig down to the roots at all through it.

And, call me a weirdo if you like, but I find my marestail weeding sessions strangely relaxing and quite therapeutic :-D

Good luck with yours - it's a plant to be admired for it's tenacity (if nothing else).
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