"Phil Gurr" wrote in message
news

"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...

"Anne Welsh Jackson" wrote in message
...
michael wrote:

I am beginning to think that it is pointless giving sensible
advice on
this group.I gave some quite sensible advice a few postings
ago,and
the majority of the replies were quite frivolous and pointless.If
anyone suffers horsetail infestation,then they need serious
advice to
get it eradicated.
Michael

Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps you take yourself too
seriously?

Lots of good advice is posted here, and is not always
acknowledged,
but that doesn't mean that it's unheeded - and yes, we sometimes
become a bit "frivolous and pointless" into the bargain. That's
what
happens in newsgroups. If you stick around for long enough you
might even feel inclined to join in the frivolity. Hey, it's the
weekend,
time to have fun in the garden!!


I was probably one of the frivolous ones as I advised moving house
if you horsetail.
My aunt nearly moved house to get away from ground elder.
Fortunately she found a gardener who was able to get rid of it for
ever. Yes, he really did. Pure effort, digging every bed up and
removing every piece by hand. No weedkiller used.
I got rid of my ground elder the same way.
If I had horsetail I am not sure what I would do.
Except consider moving, as I said.

I used to have an allotment near to Walton-on-Thames which was
infested with horsetail. On talking to the other allotment holders,
I found that they considered it a blessing. The soil was thin and
being underlain by river gravel it often dried out badly in the
summer. The other allotment holders would hoe off the horsetail at
ground level and within minutes there was a spreading ring of
moisture brought up from underground. Sadly, most of them had killed
off the horsetail by this process!

Phil


It also discourages a whole host of pests and is used baked and ground
to treat various diseases in 'secret potions' :-) In my experience, it
doesn't affect yield at all if it is relatively sparse. You just have
to keep having a go at it.

I have tons of the flippin' stuff and despite hand weeding my onion
bed it's back already with a vengance. The only way to be rid is
careful hand weeding - breaking down all the clay if you have clumpy
soil. I've done that too and the beds prep'd that way are doing fine.
Onion bed a bit ugly.

TJ