Weeds can make your garden maintenance a lot tougher, especially if they’re resilient types like horsetail or marestail. Gardening expert and TikTok creator Ish recently shared his most effective methods for ensuring that these “pesky” weeds won’t return.
Ish said: “Now, horsetail, or marestail, is just like bindweed in the sense that it’s such a resilient weed, that people have been struggling to get rid of for years and years and years. It’s one of those weeds that takes a bit of persistence.”
If you’re unsure about what these types of weeds look like, the Royal Horticultural Society shared some helpful advice for gardeners. There are two types of horsetail; with the first type appearing in early to mid-spring, which are a light tawny brown, can grow to up to 30 centimetres tall, and can be easily mistaken for toadstools, according to the RHS.
The second appears in late spring and will grow throughout the summer, showing off green shots and can reach 60 centimetres in height.
The weed can spread its reach through its spores and rhizomes, however they are short-lived, and need damp conditions to germinate and grow. Making autumn the perfect climate to overrun the garden.
Ish shared a few methods for getting rid of the pesky weeds, including a chemical method, but prefers a natural way to deal with the horstail. Horsetail not only thrives with light, but also in a “badly-draining” soil, and loves acidity.
To combat this, Ish recommended replacing the soil after you’ve dug out the weeds, with a well-draining or sandy soil. He said: “Plant things like lavender, and add a little bit of an alkaline base soil using a bit of baking powder, that lavender will thrive in, but this absolutely detests.”
If the horsetail is located in your lawn, the best advice Ish shared is to regularly mow it.
He said: “By regularly mowing it, you’re actually cutting down the energy and starving it of light. And it takes time, but that will kill it down and hopefully get rid of it.”
Although it’s not necessary to get rid of horsetail, it helps if it is controlled. The RHS explained: “However, as its green stems can form dense ground cover from late spring to autumn, it is a good idea to control the growth of horsetail in parts of your garden where it might smother and outcompete seedlings, or smaller and less vigorous plants.”
If you find that you’ve got horsetail weeds in your beds and borders, you can try to reduce the amount of light the plant will get. The weeds depend on the light to grow.
Firstly, try to dig it up as best as you can, before planting “thick, clumping” plants on top of the affected area. This will reduce the amount of light getting to the plant.
You can also go one step further by placing a layer of thick mulch on top.