Horsetail is not wrongly considered a dreaded weed in the garden. Fighting it is too difficult. This is especially true for field horsetail. But varieties that are grown to decorate ponds also tend to spread widely. What you should consider when caring for horsetail in the garden.
How to deal with horsetail in the garden?
Horsetail in the garden should be used carefully: a rhizome barrier when planting or using plant baskets at the edge of the pond prevents uncontrolled growth. In the event of an infestation, trim new shoots, remove sprouts and dig up rhizomes.
How horsetail spreads in the garden
Horsetail spreads in two ways. On the one hand, the plant does not produce flowers, but rather spores. They are spread throughout the garden by the wind.
On the other hand, horsetail reproduces via the underground rhizomes. The runners grow vertically and horizontally and reach depths of two meters and more.
Plant horsetail in the garden only with a rhizome barrier
There are some horsetail species that have high ornamental value. They are planted near ponds as they love very wet locations.
Before planting, always create a root barrier that is as deep as possible so that the underground runners do not reach other parts of the garden.
Put pond horsetail in the plant basket
Pond horsetail is particularly decorative on the edges of ponds.
So that the pond plants do not overgrow the entire pond, place them in special plant baskets that are buried at the edge of the pond.
Fighting horsetail in the garden
Once you have horsetail in your garden, it's hard to get rid of the plant. This not only affects field horsetail, but also pond horsetail or winter horsetail. So think carefully about whether you really want to bring horsetail into your garden.
To combat horsetail or swamp horsetail, you must:
- Cut new shoots immediately
- Remove shoots with spores immediately
- Dig up rhizomes with a digging fork and dispose of them
Digging up rhizomes only helps so much. As soon as you leave just a small piece in the ground, the horsetail will sprout again. Therefore, never throw plant residues into the compost, but rather dispose of them in the garbage can.
Tip
A good way to keep horsetail under control is to care for it in a pot. This means the plant cannot spread throughout the garden like a weed. However, the planter must be as deep as possible, as horsetail has very deep roots.
