Mares tail.

[tropical]

We have the awful weed , Mares tail. Any advice on how to get rid

[Thunderbird+]

Hi tropical,
Yes it is an awful weed and a difficult ont to get rid of !

I'm assuming you have a heavy infestation and digging up every single bit of root is not an option you relish.

The best kind of weedkiller recomended for this is a Translocated (Systemic) weedkiller which will move in the sap-stream of the plant and kill it as it go's right down to the roots. a weedkiller containing 'Glyphosate' such as 'Round up' should do the deed it you follow the instructions to the letter.

The trick with mares tail is to find the "chink in the armer" in this case it's the waxy coating that repels anything liquid. To do this the weed firstly needs to be damaged so that the weedkiller can enter. you can do this by swiping at it with a garden cane, trampling etc or what ever way you find easy, for best results do this on a still sunny day with no iminent rain forcast. Good Luck Tbird+
Ps, more than one application may be neccesary to rid it completely.

[sallybb]

We have the same problem in our hay field, this weed is actually poisonous to animals and to eradicate it , we sought advice from are local Agricultural supplers. Most weed killers have little effect, the one they reccommended is Pastoral, a double strength dose in late spring leaves the pasture clean enough to make hay. But as Thunderbird says sometimes more than application may be neccessary.
As this plant has underground runners, you may clear it from one area only to have it return in another. You may never fully eradicate it.