Horsetails are terrifying
Tuesday 30 December 2008 - Filed under Plants
I came across this yard during a snowy neighborhood walk. I’ve never felt particularly lucky for my wild garlic infestation, but I am relieved I’m not trying to control equisetum. From what I’ve heard, the best way to eradicate it from your garden is to move. I do think it’s beautiful, I buy a handful of stems from florists when I find them, they look great in a vase, but I’ve resisted any temptation to grow my own. I’ve read you can keep it controlled by growing it in a pot, but this is the one plant I’m afraid to go anywhere near.
2008-12-30 » megan
30 December 2008 @ 6:15 pm
Hm, are you sure those are horsetails? The ones I know up here have fronds coming out horizontally from the reed sections. They are the bane of my mom’s existence in her garden, totally impossible to eradicate. I think they are prehistoric, been around since the dinos were munching on them. Or something like that.
30 December 2008 @ 10:19 pm
Karen – Not positive, but I’ve got a pretty good hunch. I was reading on floridata that there are 25 species, I’m not sure they’re all invasive, but they do have that rep. The way these had spread throughout the yard, and under the neighbor’s fence certainly suggested invasiveness. I’m thinking maybe Equisetum hyemale, which is usually unbranched. I do think both these and the branched kind are most beautiful. But I don’t want them.
30 December 2008 @ 11:03 pm
Oh those things are evil. My parents’ backyard had them when I was a kid and they were unstoppable. On the upside, as a kid I really liked the satisfying pop they make when you separate the segments. But yes, wow, unstoppable.