HORSETAILS

Photo: Horstail is invasive but it does get those pans clean.

Before I start on gardening topics this week I thought I’d give you a little update on our little furry addition to the household. For two weeks now I have spent the best part of two hours a day chasing the rabbit around the garden after my lads let him out of his hutch. It is very good exercise but at this time of the year I can do without such distractions. The worst thing about the rabbit is that he will hide out of the way until I take my eye off him, then he sneaks out and takes large bites out of my plants, before disappearing again into the undergrowth.

My patience was running out so instead of lassoing him with a shrimp net, as I have ended up doing to catch him, I decided to nip down to the Co-op and buy all the necessary bits and pieces to build a run for him. For some reason (my lack of carpentry skills) the run is a bit larger than I planned. The structure is at least ten feet long by five feet wide with the height being at least three feet (perhaps I should have applied for planning permission!). The whole thing takes some lifting and I should know as I was having so much fun putting it together that I forgot to include the door, so the whole structure has to be lifted up while Julie limbo dances underneath with the food. A job to do next week I think.

HORSETAILS
As I am on the subject of pests it seems fitting that I should mention one of the gardens greatest. The horsetail (Equisetum arvense) is one of the all time persistent weeds, even more so than the Japanese knotweed. They are usually attracted to damp spots in the garden and once established soon spread. I must admit I quite like the look of them when they are growing wild; they look a bit like a bottlebrush, which is another name for them.

These plants have been around millions of years longer than the dinosaurs and other than getting a bit smaller remain unchanged. These plants don’t flower but like ferns they spread with spores. The established plants also have masses of roots and if one piece is left in the soil then they are back again.

This week I had a telephone call from a woman whose garden was slowly being taken over by Horsetail and I was asked if anything could be done. I do know of some uses for the plant, they are very effective at polishing metal; they were once imported from Holland for that very reason. They are also very good at cleaning wooden spoons, but unless you were going into the pot cleaning business that bit of information is no good to you whatsoever. The plant can be poisonous to livestock if they have too much of it so putting cattle on your lawn is not the best idea either.

I was left with no alternative but to surf the Internet to see if anyone has come up with a solution to the encroaching weed. I was amazed to find the Horsetail is a problem in lots of countries; there are special chat lines about the subject, with no real solutions. There is the suggestion that they can be covered in black polythene for no less than two years. I have tried this but the roots spread to the end of the polythene and new plants emerge. Spraying can be as unsuccessful as the plants are coated in silica so the weed killer just runs off them, each individual stem has to be crushed for this to be successful. If they are in the lawn they can be cut down regularly, this stops the spores spreading the plant but doesn’t get rid of the plant. A flamethrower only kills the top growth too so that would be a waste of time as well.

So there you have it, I’m beaten with this one, the only successful options are to learn to love the plant, move house or start up your own saucepan cleaning company!

Update: Go to the article headed Weeding, there is a chemical alternative should you decide to go down that route

Horticultural.