I haven't been able to do anything in the garden for over a year due to a foot problem so the estate has been rather neglected 'cos SWM won't do it !
All the paving has been cleared of weeds and there's just one area to clean now, where the caravan is parked. Over the last two years we have had more growth of these damned Mares Tails, presumably due to the field at the end of my property. There are three or four horses but there's too much field for them to cope with. A dozen sheep would be better ! It's like a mini pine forest !
I've read it all up, and Glysophate won't touch them. Neither, it seems, will my White Vinegar/Salt/Fairy Liquid mix. Any ideas, flame thrower ? Sodium Chlorate, which I have used for decades, is no longer available, I have an idea this will kill anything.
Any ideas or experience from my learned friends here ? I'll be spending the weekend in the garden if weather permits.
Ted
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I thought glyphosate would kill anything. I've had good success with the Spear & Jackson sachets from B & M, but at £20 a box found I was using more than a box a year. Got some (allegedly) agricultural quality on ebay for £40/5L. So far it doesn't seem as effective at the recommended dilution, but I've enough to see me out at stronger dosage.
I've found glyphosate isn't fast acting and must be applied during a dry spell of several days to be most effective.
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Glyphosate is ineffective against glyphosate. Digging doesn’t help much either as it breaks up the roots and a new plant will grow from each piece of root. I have a patch of the stuff down the alleyway by the side of my house that I have been trying to kill for over 30 years!
Best you can do I find is to cut any new growth as soon as it appears in the spring and keep on cutting iit eventually weakens it and the re growth is less vigorous.
Could be worse, you could have Japanese Knotweed!
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...which my neighbours daughter has. It's a nightmare.
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Original roundup kills them, but maybe not the new roundup. Original not available any more unfortunately.
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>>Household bleach?
Bit stronger. I used to use it as an algicide (outside) when we lived in ye olde cottage.
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Thanks for all the interesting responses. Of course, it had to rain this weekend so I continued clearing and fettling the garage and workshop instead. Three black rubble sacks in the back of the RAV4 waiting for the tip...and that was just the garage ! Moved the two freezers and the motorbike to make a bit more usable room.
I'll see to the mares tails in the week, I've ordered a flame thrower, I hope it's better than the last one, which you'd be pushed to light a fag with ! I'll have to move the caravan but It has a motor mover so no effort there.
Ted
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You mean a weed burner? I have one that takes butane/propane mix cans. It works OK for a while until the can gets really chilled, killing the evaporation and drastically reducing the flame. Just have to do it in bursts.
Herself likes using it (on weeds) and I discovered she had set several cans aside because she thought they were empty. I've been using them up.
I think it's this one, although it came from Jewsons or Screwfix I think.
www.amazon.co.uk/GoSystem-Blaster-Burning-Canisters-Blowtorch/dp/B09JCNJ6QM/
I buy the cans by the dozen, about £40, which is ridiculous but we can keep the weeds down on the permeable block paving with an hour or so a month of scorching. The last box lasted over 18 months.
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Similar to that, Dugong. About the same money with 8 cans of gas. If the gas is in screw fitting cans I can use them for my blowlamp as well, although I prefer the short, squat cans for that as the tall ones are so unstable to stand up.
Whilst tidying I moved one of my two jerrycans and found it to be full of petrol. It might have gone off a bit now but it might be ok for weedkilling and even run the Jowett, which was built for wartime pool petrol.
Ted
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We find a weed burner, ours was from the Aisle of Aldi, pretty effective at keeping stuff growing through patio paving under control. Dandelions and stuff though not Marie's Tails.
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At my dad’s I had sprayed the Mare’s tails with Advantage Pro Round Up weedkiller and lo and behold, up visiting tonight and they are all dead and withering.
Just need to do some scraping and remove them all.
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They aren’t dead. You have killed off the foliage but not the roots. They will be back!
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The end of the world is nigh...
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>>They will be back!
A genus of Arnoldia Swartzanegerum?
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>> A genus of Arnoldia Swartzanegerum?
>>
Horsetails are an interesting group of plants. Been around for 350 million years so not going anywhere soon :-)
www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/2015/5/21/ancient-equisetum
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>>Been around for 350 million years so not going anywhere soon :-)
Puzzles me how Homo Saps (no pun intended) have only been around for under 1 million years but are 'generally' more *intelligent than plants etc. that have been around for 100's of millions of years.
*Politicians excepted of course!
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>>Just need to do some scraping and remove them all.
AIUI systemic weedkillers work by poisoning the plant through the leaves, allowing the poison to slowly leach into the roots. The poison may be retained in the plant above the soil for some time and it may be advantageous to leave the tops of the plants for some time to allow the poison to work fully.
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>> Whilst tidying I moved one of my two jerrycans and found it to be full
>> of petrol. It might have gone off a bit now but it might be ok
>> for weedkilling and even run the Jowett, which was built for wartime pool petrol.
Are you aware of the effect of ethanol on older fuel systems? I do hope that stuff isn't E10 if you do put it in any of your old vehicles.
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Thanks Tubby. Yes, I buy E5 for the old car. Actually, I'm not at all worried, I don't think there's any rubber components in the fuel system, I think that's where the concern is about degradation. The fuel line is steel, seals are fibre and the carbs are Zenith so no diaphragms.
I've not heard any reports about E10 in the classic world yet. Bit like when unleaded only became available, I figured with my limited milage and about 12 cylinder heads spare, I wouldn't have to worry.....and I haven't !
Spent the morning clearing a big area of all the Mares Tails. Can't get at the roots, of course , so vinegar/weedkiller or flame will follow. I'll keep on top of any growth now I'm back in action.
Ted
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Don’t dig it all up especially if you have a sticky hurdy-gurdy.
Apparently horsetail stems were used extensively for their abrasive properties, including being used to remove resin buildup from the wheels used to play the hurdy-gurdy.
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I'll mentiom that to our resident hurdy=gurdy player when I take his morning cuppa up to our minstrels gallery.
Ted
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>> I don't think there's any rubber components in the fuel system, I think that's
>> where the concern is about degradation. The fuel line is steel, seals are fibre and
>> the carbs are Zenith so no diaphragms.
Ted
I recall something about ethanol attacking carb floats.
From Wiki:
"ethanol is not compatible with soft metals such as zinc, brass, copper, lead, and aluminum."
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Back to a subject more important than riots, elections,etc. Mares Tails (MTs)
I removed every MT I could find from the entire property. Most just snapped off at the base so I applied the blowtorch to those I could. They are crafty sods, they hide in other plants and the soil entry point can be 12 to 18 inches away from the foliage.
On the paving where the lawn used to be, I gradually went round all the joints between the flags with petrol from a Fairy Liquid bottle. The weed burner set it alight and I stood back and kept an eye on it, not wanting to end up like a Buddhist Monk ! It seemed to work, as no MTs or other weeds have appeared in the couple of weeks since I did it. However, I had left a small section, about 6ft square, and the MTs are showing there. I'll deal with them tomoz !
A couple of weeks ago, SWM suddenly rushed out of the front door. Wondering what was up, I looked out and saw she had accosted a council workman with a Transit holding a big tank and a driver. He was weedkilling along the gutter and along house boundaries with the footpath. She was asking about our MT problem. We had a good chap, nice fella, and he said DERV was the answer, it killed anything, using a trigger bottle. Even the roots. I have bought a couple of gallons so that's next on the agenda.
Co-incidentally, a few days later I was in the workshop and was aware of a noise like the police helicopter circling....fairly common so I didn't bother looking. A glance out of the back window later saw that all the nettles and brambles had gone and the noise was a guy on a ride-on mower going up and down the field. It was one of those machines where the operator stands on the back. I suspect it was mainly to get rid of the ragwort but he did say that he was very aware of the bad effect the field was having on people's gardens and sympathized. He promised to come back soon and do some more mowing. That should help keep the weeds down in our gardens ! I'd already Glysophated a few feet into the field in my area anyway so it should stay clear for a while.
Ted
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Sorry but the horsetail will be back next spring, bigger and stronger than ever. A bit of diesel ain’t going to deter a plant that has survived since the age of the dinosaurs;-)
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Be like my neighbs - front and rear gardens completely covered with granite chippings laid on top of a *weed-proof* membrane.
No grass to cut either. Not my cup of tea though, but it looks okay with some nice plants scattered about in containers.
Easy to pick up dog's doings too plus no urine staining of the grass, not that they have a dog :)
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This interesting page supports what CGN has said above.
www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/horsetail
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Did you mean DEET rather than DERV? I guess a truck driving back and forth might kill the odd plant, of course.
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Mare's tails. - bathtub tom
