We don't get these on the allotment but the odd one pops up in the garden. I hoik them out as soon as I see them because they'll take over if you let them. I've seen them growing up through tarmac and through concrete. I don't mean through the cracks, I mean straight up through the middle of the tarmac or concrete. Apparently they grow on motorways. I wouldn't put it past them.They're weird-looking things, and it's no surprise that very similar plants have been found in fossils from the Carboniferous period, before flowering plants or grasses evolved. They don't have leaves as such, but spiny segments. They don't have flowers or seeds but reproduce by spores. They're coated with silica, and I've heard that in the past they were used for scouring pots. Don't bother spraying them with weedkiller. It doesn't even penetrate this coating.
I have mixed feeling about horsetails. They're a nuisance, but they have this strange prehistoric beauty to them. There are some gorgeous photomicrographs of horsetails at the Microscopy UK website which illustrate what I mean. Sometimes on gardening shows the presenter will enthuse about "architectural plants". Horsetails could fit that description. They almost look as if they're built rather than something that grows. They remind me of the early computer-generated landscapes in the 1980s, when we were all enthralled by fractals and chaos theory.
Horsetails - weird prehistoric alien silicon-based computer-generated weeds growing in my garden. I think the "cool" factor beats the "nuisance" factor. What do you think?
7 comments:
Um, sorry, but no. I don't regard horsetails as being in any way, shape or form as "cool". A bleedin' nuisance, yes, and impossible to get rid of! The only weed I know of that is worse than Japanese Knotweed to try and clear (and yes, we have both) :-(
I've never had horsetails growing in my garden so for me, they are definitely in the "cool" category. However, the ones that grow along streams here in the desert mountains don't have the same look. They are simply straight stalks with the little pinecone-like top. And they do work well to scrub camping pots. :)
This is a test comment
My Dad used to call them the ice-age plant, alluding, I presume, to their primitive look.
horse tail facinated me as a child,they were all over the wasteground we used to play on(in those days we vanished for the whole day and came home for tea)
as I,m not bothered with them in my growing space I think they are cool(ie not in my back yard lol)
marg
thanks for wise words on manure)
We've got horsetail on our allotment site, although not anywhere near my own plot. I helpfully posted a use for horsetail on our new blog here http://tollbarallotments.blogspot
.com/2007/11/horsetail.html
As one of the unaffected people I think it looks great, but it is totally impossible to get rid of. HDRA did a trial and reckon that the best organic thing to do is to turf and then mow the affected area very frequently. Not entirely practical on an allotment site without a lawn mower, but might help some.
Horse tail is a weed, yes, it is hard to get rid of, yes, is it useless, NO. Horsetail is used for hair growth/recovery. I'm growing it in my own herb garden, seperated of course from my other herbs, and flowering plants. And it is indeed very "cool"
Post a Comment