As of: April 6, 2024, 9:00 a.m
By: Ines Alms
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Field horsetail is a stubborn weed that spreads quickly in the garden. You can combat it with soil amendment and a few tricks.
As soon as horsetail is discovered in the garden, quick action is required. Spread must be prevented because once the weed has spread, removing it requires a lot of patience. But how do you get rid of horsetail? An effective method is to improve the soil. For example by adding lime.
Natural methods for combating field horsetail
Field horsetail can almost masterfully crowd out other plants and is therefore feared in the garden. © Manfred Ruckszio/Imago
The most common horsetail in the garden is field horsetail (Equisetum arvense), also known as horsetail. Although some value the plant as a cleaning or medicinal agent and its decoction for pest control, most consider it a nuisance weed. The plant is very resilient due to its meter-long roots that grow in all directions. Therefore, removing them completely is extremely difficult.
Here are some natural methods to combat horsetail:
Start mowing the lawn in the spring from March and cut the lawn very short to prevent the horsetail from multiplying via spores.
Horsetail prefers a low-lime, rather acidic soil with a pH of 5 to 6. If the soil is too acidic, lime can help increase the pH. The lime can either be sprinkled or mixed with water. The best times for this are spring and autumn. However, it can take months for this effective method to take effect.
Horsetail prefers moist soil and waterlogging and also copes well with dense soil. The countermeasure is loose soil: for this we recommend using a digging fork and adding compost and sand if necessary. A natural way to loosen the soil is green manure. For example, sowing lupins, whose roots penetrate deep into the ground.
You can find even more exciting garden topics in the regular newsletter from our partner 24garten.de.
What are the benefits of weed killers and home remedies?
Chemical sprays should be avoided as they are neither environmentally friendly nor particularly effective and cannot harm the deep roots. The same applies to home remedies such as vinegar or salt. The weeds will appear again sooner or later. Even covering the area with a film only brings short-term success. If you just can't get rid of the weeds, you can regularly remove the shoots of the horsetail, thereby depriving the plant of light. You can use the dried herbs to combat pests in the garden by making a manure from them. Otherwise, the only solution is to dig up the roots, but this is a laborious job.
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