A friend of mine would like to plant horsetail in his yard. He has a narrow bed between the house and the driveway that is completely bordered by concrete. He and his wife really like the "modern" look of horsetail against a wall. I warned him that I have read that horsetail is very invasive and hard to eradicate. Will the driveway and sidewalk keep horsetail in, or is it capable of popping up on the other side?
Thanks!
Dennis
Horsetail Reed
Dennis, I have never had Horsetail growing in my garden, but i do know it is a bog or aquatic plant, so I don't know how it would work in a dry space. I do think that the sidewalk and the driveway would be enough of a barrier, especially if there is no water at the other end.
Here is a link;
http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/emergent_plants/horsetail.htm
Josephine.
I have PLENTY if he wants some without paying for it. (just postage would be good). Concrete and rock walls will hold it in check. It does like water but will grow in places that aren't actually bogs as long as the ground gets or stays wet underneath.
Hello Nada, good to hear from you, I hope all is well now.
Josephine.
Wish it was too! *giggle I'm back at work in a wheelchair. Have no knee on the right side. They don't want to put another knee in until I have been infection free for a year. Can't do a lot of gardening in a wheelchair with the way my land runs up and down the hill.
I am sorry Nada, bless your heart, I hope it all be well soon.
Josephine.
I thought my horsetail would stay in the pond b/c I thought it was a bog plant too, and besides, the pond is lined with plastic so how could it get out? I've had it several years now and all was well until this year. Now, it's popping up all over. We had a very dry summer and it's coming up in dry areas, so I don't know what happened! It's pretty easy to pull up though and it did take years to figure out how to get out of the pond.
Nada, good luck with eventually getting a knee. That must be very hard. I'm sorry that you have to go through that.
I'll let him know that it is fine to plant in that bed. And if he changes his mind later, then the most likely thing he would do with that narrow bed is pave it, so eradication wouldn't an issue. :)
Thanks!
Dennis
In another house we had some bushes that didn't need a lot of water so consequently they were rarely watered. They were kept at about 3' high and all of a sudden something started growing up thru them. You're right-- it was horsetail. To the best of my knowledge there was no horsetail around at any of the houses in the subdivision or anywhere. Where it came from I don't know but it is undoubtedly still there since the bushes are very full all the way to the ground and the horsetail is impossible to get to to pull up.
Ann
It will. It has just been a really long haul. Out of work for nearly 8 months. 5 operations, 5 months of being so sick I didn't care about much. At least I can get around now and I can work. I get my first full paycheck today since I've been back. YEA... I can pay some bills! *g
Well, Nada it looks like after all your trials congratulations are in order,
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PAYCHECK.
Dennis...
I had horsetail in my pond for a couple of years and I decided it behaved so well there that I would plant some in a flower bed beside the biofalls to one side of my waterfall. Big mistake. I had koi in the pond and they had nibbled the roots, keeping them in check.
First problem was that it came up under the flagstone area about 10 foot from the plant, then into another flower bed. It would put out roots (most 6" under ground) for about 8" then pop up a shoot above ground.
In the other direction.... the roots of the horsetail traveled under the rocks at the waterfall and came up under my heavy duty pond liner and the biofall lip and caused a leak. Of course when the leak occurred...it grew more. Hopefully now we have dug out all of it and poured plant killer on the area. It is no longer allowed in my pond or near my yard!
Warning...bad invasive plant.
Our experience has been that a sidewalk will NOT keep them in check. Think of them as short Bamboo.
Wow! I didn't know they could go so far underground. We planted some by the creek at the wildscape, I hope it doesn't choke the creek. Of course conditions are very harsh over there, so it could be different.
Josephine.
Hubby said he looked it up once and it said that plant has been around since the dinosaurs! I loved the look of it; and the dragonflies loved to perch on it.