Michael Bell wrote:

The "resident weed" in my garden, in Forest Hall, Newcastle -on Tyne,
is horsetail. Every garden has a "resident weed" hasn't it?

Last year I systematically squirted every growth of horsetail with
weedkiller, and I reckon I got the horsetail down to 5% of what it had
been and last winter I dug the whole garden over and pulled out what I
could.

But of course, there is still some coming up this spring. Once again I
am squirting it with weedkiller.

Is there any more productive method of getting rid of it?

Michael Bell
--

Hello Michael,

We have a huge amount of horsetail. I too sprayed it last year with a
Glyphosate weedkiller. It has come back in many areas but is maybe less
than previously.

The best area, is a 2ft x 12ft patch, where I started digging it out the
year before last, and removed the very few individual weeds that came up
last year. So far, none of it has come back in that section at all,
although the horizontal roots are no doubt still there.

I've cleared a similar sized area in a different section this year,
digging down about 2 feet, removing soil into a wheel-barrow, so that I
can get down as deep as possible.

The problem with that area, is that it is next to the pavement flags, and
it appears that the root growth extends underneath the pavement, and it
grows through the pavement flags. Does anyone know if the council have a
duty to remove it from there ? I was wondering if it would be worth
asking, or would they just laugh at me ?

Which particular brand of weedkiller did you use ? I have been using Bio
Glyphosate (1 litre), which cost £11.99 to treat 400 sq.m.

Also, what time of the year do you apply it ? I bought another brand, and
it said use it in July, but I'm not sure I can wait that long this time.
I've been using a pressure sprayer to apply it. This Bio brand doesn't
specify a time to apply.

Are you aware of the need to cut off the brown fertile spores which spread
the seed (like dust), in early spring ?