Such an ancient fossil that has survived in all natural disasters, like horsetail, is not so easy to remove from the garden, because there are legends about its vitality. The rhizomes go into the ground to a depth of two meters, so even forest fires are not afraid of it. Let's find out whether it is possible to defeat him on your site or whether you should put up with his neighborhood.

How to get rid of horsetail in a natural way?

Effective measures to combat a weed such as horsetail include planting its enemies - plants from the cruciferous family - in its habitat. These can be either vegetables - cabbage, oilseed radish, or mustard, rapeseed and others.

Due to the fact that all these plants release substances into the soil that horsetail does not tolerate, and thus in a few seasons you can completely remove the unwanted guest from your site.

Use of chemicals

Industrial chemicals, especially in high concentrations, can kill all living things on the site. But horsetail does not always react positively to it precisely because of the deep-lying root system. That is why it is so important to start fighting this weed as soon as it appears on the site and does not have time to go deep into the soil.

To combat horsetail, various herbicides are used that act both on the greenery and on the underground part of the plant. “Heliphos” is very popular among gardeners, having high activity against weeds, but harmless to humans, domestic animals and beneficial insects.

Reducing acidity in the soil

Before removing horsetail from the garden, you should do a soil analysis - perhaps it is too acidic, and this is directly related to the active development of the weed. The fact is that this weed plant grows only on acidic peat bogs, and even when high humidity, so these two factors may not play into the hands of the garden owner.

Making sure the soil pH is above permissible norm it is necessary to begin to take measures to reduce it. There are two ways for this and both of them are harmless and even useful - this is liming the soil and saturating it with ordinary wood ash. Both in a few summer seasons will make even highly acidic soil unsuitable for the development of horsetail.

Ash can be scattered throughout the growing season without the risk of harming garden plants, but liming is carried out only in the fall, when the garden has already been harvested. To do this, 2 to 3 kg of fluff lime are taken per 1 m2 in the first year, and subsequently only 500 grams of the substance are used for the same area. This will be enough to bring the soil back to normal and destroy the weed in 2-3 seasons (depending on the initial acidity).

Horsetail- a very harmful weed. It most often ends up in the garden along with imported or purchased soil. Its “tentacles” and spore-bearing parts easily spread throughout the entire area. If you don’t remove it in time, there will be trouble, all the plants and even fruit bushes may die. Therefore, you need to understand in detail what measures can be taken to act effectively and not in vain. So, let’s talk a little in our format about the horsetail plant, how to get rid of it in the garden, of course, we’ll tell you in more detail.

There are four main ways to fight:

Use of chemicals;
Application of dolomite flour;
The use of other plants in the vicinity of which it will be impossible for horsetail to grow;
Reducing such an indicator as soil acidity.

So, how to get rid of horsetail in the garden? So that you choose the method yourself, it’s worth talking about each of them in a little more detail.
What chemicals are best to use?

It is known from botany that horsetail is a grassy weed; it has no flowers and reproduces by simple spores, just like a mushroom. Because of this, experts recommend using herbicides to kill the weed. In particular, many of them recommend a drug such as Glyphos.

It is recommended to use it in the evening, preferably when the weather is calm and dry. The drug is relatively dangerous, but it does not harm beneficial insects. For example, it is not dangerous to bees.

Glyphos belongs to class IV hazardous herbicides. For this reason, it should only be applied with rubber medical gloves. It is advisable that there are no flowering plants in the garden fruit plants, because if it rains, they may die.

Some summer residents also advise using drugs such as Roundup or Tornado. But they are more effective against flowering weeds, but with their help it will be possible to cope with spore plants only partially: horsetail will soon appear in the garden anyway. In general, Glyphos is the best option.
Is it effective? dolomite flour?

To prevent horsetail from growing, the soil must be limed with preparations containing calcium. The following lime materials are suitable for this:

dolomite flour;
chalk;
lime;
ash.

Why does the soil need to be limed? This will significantly reduce its acidity, and horsetail fears this like a baby from a bad dream. Of all the remedies listed above, it is better to use dolomite flour: it is simply more effective. True, with the help of flour it will be possible to completely get rid of the weed in 3-4 years. So this is an effective, but rather slow method.

What else you need to know about soil liming:

In the first year, the full dose is applied;
The next 2-3 years - no more than half of the original dose.

The dose size depends on the type of soil. This information is best understood using this small table:

In general, liming is a very effective but slow way to get rid of horsetail.
Will unwanted proximity to plants that are dangerous to it get rid of horsetail?

Any agronomist knows that horsetail categorically cannot tolerate almost all cruciferous plants. These, for example, include the following:

white mustard;
oilseed and winter rape;
oilseed radish.

In terms of their effectiveness, the plants will be approximately the same, but in the CIS countries it is customary to use oilseed radish. Elementary for the reason that it costs the least. After a person notices the appearance of horsetail, next year any of the indicated plants must be planted in the same place. Thanks to their unique root system, these plants will simply suppress weeds. This practically guarantees 100% elimination of horsetail.

Cruciferous plants, interestingly, are used not only to combat horsetail, but also simply to “clean” the land for a garden of any weeds. And the soil itself is “resting” (there is an old expression “fallow” - it means the same thing). In general, cruciferous plants are indeed effective remedy fight against horsetail.
How to reduce soil acidity?

It was already indicated above that the plant loves soils with increased acidity. Ordinary lime will help get rid of it. True, it will help this method not immediately: the soil must be cultivated for at least six months, but most often the weed completely disappears after about 1.5-2 years. In the first year it is worth adding 2-3 kilograms of lime per 1 m², in the second - 0.75-1 kilograms per 1 m². If, together with the addition of lime, you regularly weed the weeds, then you can definitely forget about horsetail forever.
Interesting facts

Horsetail is a weed because it sucks many useful minerals from the soil. In particular, it is rich in the following:

Vitamin C;
potassium salts;
saponins;
carotenes;
tannins.

When weeding a garden, it can not be destroyed, but used to treat a variety of ailments. Horsetail is brewed like regular tea. It can help with diseases such as:

trophic ulcers, eczema, dermatitis and lichen (including colored ones);
the presence of fistulas on the human body;
gout;
rheumatism;
other diseases.

The list is impressive, isn't it? By the way, it can be found in almost any pharmacy. But if there is a lot of it in the garden, then why not take the opportunity to dry this “tea” for yourself? So, on the one hand, horsetail is a harmful weed, on the other hand, it can be used as an effective folk remedy!

It is interesting that the very name “horsetail” is purely official, botanical. And sometimes people just don’t know what we’re talking about. Therefore, we can remember others, popular names of this plant:

tin grass;
Horse tail;
mop grass;
Panicle;
Cat's tail.

If you ever hear one of these names, then know that we are talking specifically about horsetail. For women, by the way, it will be interesting to know that in addition to its medicinal properties, the weed is also a good cosmetic product. It helps against acne. Moreover, since it contains a lot of calcium, taking a decoction of this plant will promote the growth of beautiful and shiny, strong nails that will not peel.
This weed is so unusual!

Those who have horsetail growing on their property are very unlucky. This is a nasty weed that is very difficult to remove from the garden. It is also harmful because its powerful rhizomes pull everything out of the soil. useful substances and water, taking them from cultivated plants.

Digging up the area from the horsetail, of course, helps, but the roots of the horsetail are hardly noticeable and can go down to a depth of a meter. So after digging, the horsetail will still show shoots. Therefore, when using imported soil, you need to make sure that there are no horsetail roots there, otherwise it will provide a cheerful life for several years.

Horsetail can also be dislodged by liming, since it is known that horsetail grows on acidic soils, and on alkaline ones it can even die. Typically, chalk, ash, lime, dolomite flour are used for these purposes...

Of all the preparations, dolomite flour is more preferable. Liming is carried out for two years - the first time a full dose of lime is applied, and the second - half. If the liming is reinforced by digging and digging up green shoots of horsetail, then after three to four years there will be almost none left.

Herbicides against horsetail are ineffective. Roundup and Tornado have almost no effect. Only high doses of Glyphos help cope with the enemy. But it is not suitable for supporters of environmentally friendly gardening, so you have to fight horsetail with liming and a hoe.

It is known that horsetail does not get along with rapeseed, mustard and oilseed radish. Therefore, if you sow these green manures after harvesting the main crop, they will help smother the weeds.

Of course, for us, horsetail is primarily a malicious weed, but we must not forget about it medicinal properties. It helps with rheumatic pain, chronic cough, heart disease, kidney disease, edema and other ailments.

Therefore, the appearance of horsetail is not only a nuisance, but also an opportunity to dry out valuable greens.

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Cat's eye, mop grass, broom, tin grass, horse tail... All these wonderful and very extraordinary names belong to such a plant as horsetail. Medicines produced on the basis of tin herb can effectively combat diseases such as cholelithiasis, diarrhea, eczema, dermatitis, trophic ulcers, lichen and other ailments. However, there is another side to this herbaceous plant. Horsetail is garden weed, and difficult to derive.

Horsetail can get into the garden along with the applied soil. For example, this plant loves to settle on developed peatlands, from where soil is often brought for garden plantings. Before adding soil to your plot, you need to make sure that horsetail rhizomes are not “hidden” in it. Calculating them is not so easy; to do this, you need to carefully sort through most of the soil.

It can be quite difficult to find signs of horsetail during the annual digging of the site (both spring and autumn). The point is that root system of this plant can lie at a depth of forty to sixty centimeters. Unfortunately, with the help of a shovel it is simply impossible to reach the rhizomes, so this weed continues to live and develop quietly on garden plot. To avoid its spread, you need to learn how to properly, and most importantly, deal with this plant in a timely and effective manner.

Methods for controlling horsetail

1. Chemicals

Horsetail belongs to herbaceous plants, which do not have flowers, but reproduce by spores. To destroy it, drugs such as Glyphos are suitable. This aqueous solution used to destroy annual and perennial weeds. Class IV hazardous substances, Glyphos does not harm beneficial insects (such as bees). The action of the drug is aimed at blocking the synthesis of aromatic amino acids occurring in horsetail. The consequence of this is the gradual death and then death of the plant.

It is preferable to apply glyphos and other herbicides in the evening. It will be simply wonderful if the weather on this day is calm and windless. During processing, the gardener should protect his hands with rubber gloves. Do not spray during or after rain, or during periods of drought.

2. Undesirable neighborhood

There are plants that horsetail does not tolerate. These include almost all representatives of the Cruciferous family: oilseed radish, winter rape, white mustard and others. In those places personal plot where the appearance of horsetail was noticed, next year you need to plant any of the cruciferous plants. The fact is that the root secretions of radish, rapeseed and other crops can suppress weeds. Such a neighborhood will lead to almost one hundred percent death of horsetail.

3. Reducing soil acidity

As you know, horsetail prefers to grow in soils with high acidity. Therefore, this indicator needs to be gradually reduced. By the way, the process of reducing acidity is a long one, it can take from six months to several years. In order not to act blindly, it is preferable to initially calculate the general acidity of the soils on the site. Lime should be added to the soil over several years. Calculation: two to three kilograms of lime per square meter in the first year and five hundred grams in the second and third years. If the procedure for reducing acidity is combined with regular weeding, then in a couple of years there will be no trace of horsetail in the garden.

In the fight against a weed such as horsetail, the main thing is to carry out work on an ongoing basis. Under no circumstances should you leave your garden unprepared after harvesting. The soil should be carefully dug up, and when the first shoots of horsetail appear, they should be destroyed immediately. Comprehensive measures will allow the gardener to forget about the weed plant for a long time!

Also called tin grass, cat's eye, mop-grass, broom, ponytail. It is the basis for the manufacture medicines, which have an effective effect in the fight against cholelithiasis, diarrhea, eczema, dermatitis, lichen and other diseases. But such on the positive side This herb is sharply contrasted by its biggest drawback - horsetail is a garden plant, which is sometimes very difficult to get rid of.

Description of the plant

This is a perennial spore grass that reaches a height of 40-50 cm. It has a long creeping rhizome, on which small tuberous shoots are formed, with the help of which vegetative propagation of the grass occurs. Aboveground shoots are dimorphic, that is, they can be generative and vegetative. Generative ones are presented in a brownish or pink color, have brown leaf teeth in the shape of a triangle; vegetative - green, erect, empty, have a pointed apex. Reproduction occurs by spores, after which they ripen and die completely. But after a few weeks the bushes become green again. Then the formation of lateral branches occurs, which are practically indistinguishable in appearance from the appearance of vegetative processes.

Did you know? Horsetail is one of the oldest inhabitants of our planet, its age is approximately 400 million years, it is even older than dinosaurs.

Horsetail grows in the subarctic, temperate and tropical climates of Eurasia, throughout North America. Ideal conditions for him are sandy moistened ones. Widespread in non-traditional.

Why is horsetail dangerous?

In addition to the fact that this grass is annoying and poisons the lives of all gardeners, it should be remembered that it poisonous. Horsetail spreads very quickly in the soil; all it takes is a few spores to get into the soil, and expect abundant growth next year. At the same time, it is difficult to eradicate; even the most proven and popular remedies do not always help with this problem. All you need is a systematic approach and use complex methods fight this unwanted inhabitant of yours.

Vegetation control methods

As you dig up yours every year, you may find it difficult to spot signs of this weed. Its root shoots are located at a depth of 40-60 cm, where it is difficult to reach with an ordinary shovel. As a result, horsetail lives and grows in your garden. Only timely and systematic application effective methods combating it will help prevent its active spread. Let's look at several ways.

Reduced acidity

Everyone knows that horsetail grows in soils with increased acidity. Therefore, to get rid of it, this indicator must be gradually reduced. Remember that the reduction process is very long and can last from 5-6 months to a couple of years.

To do this, apply to the soil, slaked lime or . Such components will help solve the problem. The main thing is to correctly calculate the dosage: 2-3 kg of limestone per 1 square meter in the first year and 500 g in the second or third year. If you combine the procedure with regular weeding, then in a few years this problem will disappear forever.

Did you know?In Japan, horsetail stems are boiled in a special way, but they are used to polish wooden objects of applied art, which gives them an exquisite and unusual shine.

Chemicals

Horsetail belongs to the class that does not have flowers and reproduces by spores. In order to completely get rid of it in the garden, use those that kill various types weeds. Most of their varieties belong to class IV in terms of hazardous substances and are harmless to beneficial insects such as. These types of drugs block the synthesis of aromatic amino acids that occurs in this herb. As a result, the weed gradually dies and dies.

Carry out herbicide treatment in the evening. Especially good condition there will be calm weather without wind and precipitation.

Important!You can get rid of this grass using potent herbicides (Glyphos or) with a high content chemical substance(about 10 liters per hectare). But this increases the likelihood that harmful substances will end up both in and in the harvest itself.

Biological methods

If you are thinking about how to get rid of horsetail in the garden, then the family will come to your aid Cruciferous plants. Its representatives are the worst enemies for the horsetail; it cannot stand being near them.
If you notice the prerequisites for the appearance of a weed on own garden, then next season be sure to plant the seeds of Cruciferous plants. This is due to the fact that they have special secretions from the rhizomes that can suppress weeds. This method will lead to the almost complete disappearance of the annoying horsetail.

It is worth trying another method of dealing with the plant - or covering the places where it grows with black polyethylene. In this case, organic and inert substances can be used. Drain areas of the soil where moisture levels are higher than normal.

A little about the beneficial properties

Horsetail has become famous as a real “healer” thanks to its unique medicinal properties.
The herb is widely used as an anti-inflammatory and diuretic for pain in the bladder and kidneys, and has a cardiotonic and restorative effect. Infusions from such a plant, firstly, improve metabolic processes, and secondly, rid the body of excess fluid, thereby reducing swelling of the body and internal organs.