Jeez, this stuff is intrusive! Not anywhere as bad as Japanese Knotweed but it still needs constant vigilance to control it. Ours came in some soil we obtained when we were constructing the garden about 17 years ago. It has a root system which travels fast!
On a local phone-in BBC gardening programme many years ago a caller asked the expert, Jim McColl, what he should do about Mare's Tail. "Move house" said Jim! I found some effective but expensive stuff called Curtail which does kill it but the root system means it will always pop up several feet away. A horrible weed!
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Re: Mare's (or Horse's) Tail
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:06 pm
by Tall Bird
Have had it in my garden for years. Neighbours either side had it in their gardens but are now clear. I think the stuff decided to hang out in mine. Some years are worse than others. Interestingly, I haven't done much gardening this year and have found only one weedy spike in the lower garden and three in the 'wild' garden. Nonetheless, I have been stockpiling WMD aka R**nd*p just in case it's finally banned here.
Heard the move house advice C16 plus the tale of a vicar, IIRC, who was determined not to be beaten by the stuff. After chasing a root by digging some 10’ down and 4' across he gave up. Back in the day, I'm informed it was tied in bunches and used as a pan scrubber. When the 'Christmas trees' first appeared here a paleo-botanist of my acquaintance (not a gardener) was sniffy about my eradication attempts. Apparently, it's the only living genus of its kind: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equisetum
Re: Mare's (or Horse's) Tail
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:52 am
by CharlieOneSix
TB - Kurtail Gold from ProGreen is much better than Roundup for getting rid of Mare's Tail. It's not cheap though. Kurtail Gold
However, you appear to have a crystal ball as Kurtail Gold is being banned from sale from January 2019 - we have just received our order for it ready for next year. It comes in half litre bottles in concentrated form and you don't have to bruise the weed before spraying - just spray the diluted solution from a squeezy bottle on individual weeds once they are about 20cm tall. Leave for at least 3 weeks before digging in but preferably just leave in place and let it die back.
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Re: Mare's (or Horse's) Tail
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:45 pm
by Tall Bird
No crystal ball here C16. Not heard of Kurtail before - will make enquiries. Roundup has been threatened for some time thanks to EU legislation. The court case in the US this year didn't help either despite the UK product having a different formulation. https://www.npr.org/2018/11/01/66281233 ... 1284979762