Hello, I’m looking for some help identifying and getting rid of a weed that is rampant in one of my flower beds! Pictures are attached. Its root system is black and wiry and goes down very deep, into the clay below the flower bed soil. I’ve tried Roundup (no change). The only success I’ve had is manually digging it out, including as much of the root system as possible, but it still comes back and takes over! Any help identifying this weed and how to get rid of it would be appreciated!

Hi Emily,

Thanks for the pictures. Can you provide me with a few more details? 

-when does it appear in the garden

-does it die back in cold weather (Guessing you are in Ohio, but what county?)

-is there ever a flower

-height

-width

- a preference to sun, shade, or wet areas?

Thanks

Hi Emily,

Field Horsetail. It is a tough one to eradicate because it is a perennial, fast growing, spreads quickly by way of underground runners. Once established, a patch of horsetails may seem destined to remain there forever, because these plants are virtually indestructible.

Still, give it a try and if not eradicated, at least it will not overtake.

Cut back or pull as much as possible and dig out the rhizomes. You have to repeat this every couple of weeks and in late fall and also in early spring apply a heavy layer of pre-emergent.

Herbicides seem to have little effect because of its unusual (prehistoric) vascular system and waxy covering. Roundup has the least negative effects on the soil and your health, but whatever you use, brush or bend the plants with a rake to break their stems just a little, so the leaves can absorb herbicides better. It will take several treatments, but this will work.

Best bet it to dig it as deeply as you can, which removes MOST of it the first time, then come back and hoe or pull whatever comes back to keep the underground mat from reforming. Each time gets easier, and this should make a difference., but you have to stay on top of it - pull or chop every two or three months to keep new shoots from getting reestablished.

Good luck and thank you for contacting us.

Resources:

https://horticulture.oregonstate.edu/weed/field-horsetail

https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/weed-resources/common-weed-list/horsetail/

https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/life/home-garden/2017/04/26/horsetail-weed-spring-gardening/100852058/