What is this plan, and can I get rid of it

tombrown

This plant has started growing in a path & onto the drive (through tarmac); it is spreading


I am hoping it is not too hard to treat as it is at a holiday house that I am only at a few times a year, so cant give ongoing attention

looksee

Its the dreaded horsetail, and a problem to get rid of.

You will need a specialised weedkiller - there are one or two that are specifically for horsetail, or failing that something like Roundup. Crush the leaves to make them vulnerable to the weedkiller - otherwise it will just run off them - and spray. And spray, and spray. You will have to do it every time you go down and it will take a while to get rid, but you need to tackle it or y our entire garden will be taken over by it, and the tarmac destroyed.

kylith

My estate is bloody plagued with horsetail. It’s dreadful stuff. If you find a good herbicide let me know, but I fear that it’d Be like trying to keep out the tide with a bucket.

Long term, the best thing to do is make your garden unappealing; lime and organic material is what i’ve Been told.

con747

Put some washing up liquid in with the weedkiller if using it, helps it stick on it better. It's a real pain to get control of if let go too far. I use Gallup on it with some degree of success but it is a hardy weed. On the gravel drive I used road salt and that killed it outright but you wouldn't use that in a green area as you will render the soil useless.

macraignil

Horsetail has strong underground stems growing very deep underground. These are not usually killed by herbicide and in places I have seen it applied the horsetails re-grow ahead of all the other types of wild plant to be seen before the spraying. They also spread by spores (and you can see it produces different types of shoots to spread the spores at times) so if the area is damp it will be recolonised rapidly even if you used a spray strong enough to reach the underground growth. If you are talking about a place you only visit a few times a year I don't think you will be able to give it enough attention to eliminate it.

I did get it under control in my parents back garden with improving the drainage, planting vigorous herbs and fruit shrubs and trees and pulling out as much as I could get out in one go each time I saw some growing. The underground parts will eventually run out of energy and the spores wont be able to settle on ground that is not damp or covered effectively with other vegetation.

tombrown

Thanks all for your input, not as optimistic as I hoped for, but better to know the reality

The offending weed is mostly on a gravel path & tarmac driveway, so I am thinking of treating it with salt; I do have some Gallup too, so may use that if it has crept into the border beside the path.

I am thinking of cutting the stuff on the path & driveway to the ground & then applying salt - does that make sense?

macraignil

tombrown wrote: »

Thanks all for your input, not as optimistic as I hoped for, but better to know the reality

The offending weed is mostly on a gravel path & tarmac driveway, so I am thinking of treating it with salt; I do have some Gallup too, so may use that if it has crept into the border beside the path.

I am thinking of cutting the stuff on the path & driveway to the ground & then applying salt - does that make sense?

Lots of the growth is underground so I found it more effective to simply use a trowel to help loosen the soil around the underground bit as I pulled as much out as possible. A weed burner might be effective at killing it back on the tarmac where you cannot dig but I don't use chemicals in the garden myself so can't advise on how effective they are. I have read lots of comments saying sprays aren't very effective on horsetails and seen a sprayed area near my parent's house that became a pure horsetail covered area when the herbicide used killed off the other plants. I've also seen horsetails growing next to the sea so I would not expect them to be the most salt sensitive plants.

countrywoman

My sympathy TomBrown.it is an awful scourge. It burst it's way up though my newly laid tarmac a few years ago. It has part of my garden infested. I have tried all sorts on it but nothing actually works
Google it. Really interesting to read how invasive and unstoppable it is

AMC123LM

Hi Tombrown. Dicophar controls horsetail. It will keep coming back though. I have it growing throughout a lawn and all around house in different areas and just have to spray as I see it. It keeps coming back every year though but the dicophar does help to control it and stops it completely taking over. I have it coming through tarmac aswell. Anytime a bit bursts through I spray and leave for 2 days then pour boiling water over it and hammer back down the tarmac. If I didn’t do this it would destroy tarmac in one summer. I’m battling it every summer!