what plants are these ?

[Naturenutz]

These are growing in my works yard.Any ideas please ? approx 12 inches tall

[ladyhawk]

Horse - Tails once you get them they are very hard to get rid, any one know how to get rid please.

[Chris Yeates]

hi

not 100% easy to see from the photo, but these look to be giant horsetail Equisetum telmateia

cheers

Chris

[Hedera]

One of our oldest plants. Keep slicing them off with a sharp hoe or lots of applications of glyphosphate. But they'll be back!!!!

[Elean0r]

Mare's Tails - Equisetum. Don't be tempted to buy them as a pond plant, once they're in your garden they're there for ever.

You can keep them vaguely under control by pulling them out of the ground, cutting them makes them branch out and make more shoots - a bit like bindweed.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Elean0r

Mare's Tails - Equisetum. Don't be tempted to buy them as a pond plant, once they're in your garden they're there for ever.

You can keep them vaguely under control by pulling them out of the ground, cutting them makes them branch out and make more shoots - a bit like bindweed.

This is not Marestail- which is a totally unrelated plant- Hippurus vulgaris + unlike Horsetails (photo is Giant Horsetail) is a flowering plant (though flowers are tiny + not easily noticed).

Lots of people, including TV gardeners, often confuse these plants!

[Merrow]

when you do pull it out please burn it rather than putting it in your rubbish bin as it just spreads the problem

[Monkey Orchid]

Horsetail is a very old plant - it has successfully survived on this planet for millions of years and my hunch is a bit of minor persecution by a bunch of slightly evolved hairless ape-creatures is probably not going to affect it much!

It grows in slag heaps around smelters and industrial plants, and apparently was one of the first plant species to colonise the ground around Mount St Helens after the catastrophic eruption there... So it's quite a tough customer.

I understand that it supposedly prefers nutrient-poor soil, and that if you increase nutrient levels (e.g. by manuring) that will discourage it somewhat. I've read on the Internet various chemical control methods people have tried (glyphosate/Round Up, strong vinegar etc) but these seem to have temporary and limited success; they kill many other plants in the same area (which just gives the horsetail more room to expand) and can damage soil health. Sheet mulching (covering affected areas with carpet, thick cardboard or black polythene) might work - it's generally my weed control mehtod of choice with serious infestation, but you do need to leave the mulch in place for a long time - prefereably a year.

Alternatively, control by hand removal and burning. You may well need to learn to live with your horsetail, at least in some areas. On the plus side, its high silica content means it makes a jolly good pan scourer on camping trips... It also has a lot of uses in herbal medicine (although you should only use it under the direction of a practitioner who knows what they're doing, as it can have side effects).

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Monkey Orchid

Horsetail is a very old plant - it has successfully survived on this planet for millions of years and my hunch is a bit of minor persecution by a bunch of slightly evolved hairless ape-creatures is probably not going to affect it much!

Quite right

I understand that it supposedly prefers nutrient-poor soil, and that if you increase nutrient levels (e.g. by manuring) that will discourage it somewhat.

I suspect the mechanism involved with the increased nutrient approach is that other plants are able to compete more strongly, so that rather than horsetail being discouraged, it is more likely to be 'outgrown' by its flower bearing competitors.

Frequent cutting back will reduce the prevalence of horsetail but changing the nature of the soil is the key with frequent cultivation and increased nutrients to support competitor planting. Deep/heavy mulching along hedgelines and bed boundaries is needed to inhibit spreading in from uncultivated areas. But learning to garden with horsetails rather than in a perpetual battle with them is probably the best approach and personally I rather like the appearance of the alien looking strobilus cones at this time of year.

Here's a useful link re:control http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/orga...weed.php?id=10

CM