Re: Horsetail removal ?
Thank you, Sue P.
I coudn't agree with you more. My experience has been idendical with yours
and I also sometimes wonder about "plant intellegence".
Although I have not dug down a full 4 feet, I have sorely tried my patience
trying to get rid of them. Perhaps it is useful to occasionally test ones
stubborness against the true primitives.
Time for stratagies?
Douglas Mongerson
Salmon Arm, B.C., Canada
> Horsetails are very difficult (maybe impossible) to kill. They are true
> dinosaurs of the plant kingdom-- extremely primitive in structure and
> essentially unchanged since their "debut" on earth millions of yards ago.
> They're also very tough-- when Mt. St. Helens blew up 20 years ago,
> devastating the countryside, horsetails were one of the first two plants
to
> poke back up through the ash and rubble, happy as you please.
>
> Horsetails spread underground by runners....... Their roots go very
deep--
> I have personally dug down 4 feet and still not found the end of a couple
of
> really stubborn horsetails). And they're very brittle, so when you pull
on
> them, they tend to snap apart.
>
> I am an organic gardener, so have not used chemical herbicides on them
> (although I've not heard of any herbicides that have been 100% effective
> against them). Boiling water is ineffective, too (remember: these guys
> *like* volcanoes and pyroclastic flows!!). I have had my best luck by
> simply yanking out the ones I see, taking as much "root" or stalk as
> possible. In my experience, if you do this often enough, they may
> eventually "give up." but you have to be very zealous about it.
>
> One strategy that has worked for me is to allow them into a certain area.
I
> allow them to remain in the dry area under my back steps (down from the
> wooden deck). This is bordered by lawn, and if a few creep out, it's easy
> to pull them or simply mow them down. But interestingly enough, when I
> allow them an unmolested place to grow, they tend to stay there, and don't
> wander as much. Hmm..... Plant intelligence??
>
> On the bright side, they are full of silicon (aboriginal peoples used them
> as scrubbing tools) and trace elements, so they're great for the compost
> heap.
>
> Sue P.
>
>
> Sue Pesznecker SPesznec@lhs.org Milwaukie, OR. USA
>> >
> > I would assume that this horsetail is many cut up
> > roots which can be dug up by hand or I can use
> > Crossbow to kill them on the spot? These are very
> > small plants so I want to knock them dead...
> >
> > Duncan
> >
> >
>
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