"Nick Maclaren" wrote .after..
david taylor wrote:
We've had many communications on horsetail, particularly because it is
impossible to eliminate. It must be sensitive to growing
conditions/competition from other plants otherwise it would take over the
country.
Can anyone put any definition as to its preferences or vulnerabilities?

"It"? There are a fair number of species native to the UK. Generally,
damp soils where they can get their roots down, but the common horsetail
is pretty widespread. I don't know why it only rarely becomes an
invasive plant.

On our old allotment site it moved across in a wave, very thick at the front
and after it passed we are left with just a few which hoe off easily
reducing them even more. I've seen the same thing on our local railway line,
a very prolific wave front moving slowly along and then just a few left
behind, and I wonder if they will eventually die out until the next
infestation.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London