"Matt & Kim" wrote in message
om...
Greetings Everybody:

I've been battling horsetail all year in my Seattle garden, and have
done a ton of web and newsgroup research to try and figure out what
approaches would give me a fighting chance. There's a lot of
contradictory advice out there, I've tried many different techniques,
and the only treatment that seems to have had ANY effect is the use of
Casoron after clipping the plants off at ground level.

One question I HAVEN'T seen answered, however, is whether the use of a
professional gardening or landscaping service would make any
difference whatsoever. Do these types of firms have access to any
magic chemicals or secrets that I don't have access to as a novice
gardener? I know a lot of people say to just live with the horsetail,
but it absolutely ruins the appreciation of my yard and it also (I'm
positive) will diminish my home value in the long run if I don't keep
it under control. My neighbors are also starting to give me dirty
looks...

If anybody can tell me whether it's worth calling a professional
service for help with this problem, I'd greatly appreciate it!

I admired the horsetail in my neighbor's back yard for awhile (this was
before I was seriously the madgardener) and when those owners sold it, and
the new ones bought it, I asked if I could have a piece of it for my
own........I had no idea at the time that it would make itself at home in my
yard there by popping up fifteen feet away. I took my whole yard of
perennials, a few bushes and every clump of bulbs I'd planted from then on
with me to East Tennessee in 1992. I planted the horsetail at the rental
house and for 3 1/2 years it did alright. Then we bought this house in 1995
and I moved all those perennials and then some that I'd accumulated over
those years to the new house including the horsetail (I still didn't know
what I had........) but THIS time I had raised beds with rich worm casting
soil. uh oh.........and to top it off.........I planted the horsetail where
the downspout drained in the back of the bed like a total fool.

I still pull it out. I would say if you see it poking up, (especially after
a good soaking rain) gently pull it and try to get a root. And keep pulling
it up. You will NEVER remove it all, BUT there is hope because after seven
years of deliberately pulling it up, I only have one or three shoots that
pop their heads out of the dense foliage of all the other perennials in
totally whacky areas from where it originally was (which tells me it rooted
to China) and I carefully pull it out. It always has roots on the ends, but
I know I never totally remove it. But at least now after 7 years I'm not
pulling out 100-200 shoots at a time. It's dwindled to 2-3 sometimes 4 at
the most. I figure I'm weakening it by pulling out what pops up. It has to
have chlorophyll to survive healthy enough to make more, I figure somehow in
all the FOLIAGE of my constipated raised beds and given the rich, loose
soil, I miss one or two a year and that's why I pull the ones I find up. If
it weren't such a foliage and perennial jungle, I'd have possibly removed it
by now, maybe. But as long as there's roots to this stuff, yer stuck with
some of it.

It sounds daunting, but my removal has gotten it at least under control. Now
if only I could say the same about my Vinca major and 4
o'clocks...............................
madgardener Zone 7 in Eastern Tennessee who pulled the newest shoot of
horsetail up and potted it up and gave it to Squire for his new
pond/fountain.........at least it's in a POT!!! g