Hello everyone

I really have no words Amy. I hope that weedkiller gets all the roots of that dreadful horsetail. I thought it was concrete underneath that gravel? Thank goodness that you can focus on the benefits of your move...the grandchildren, the beaches etc. Because its been a total nightmare in many ways. Get yourself a large glass of wine! :O

Thanks Karen I'll deff. have the large glass of wine Lol ..
Yes it is concrete in a lot of places the gravel was covering a multitude of sins , I doubt we'll completely eradicate the Horse-tail as it's also on the other side of the fence and will obviously keep coming through I'll have to check the boundary at regular intervals ..

Gorgeous Clematis Amy! With a new garden, it’s “win some, lose some” isn’t it? We’re happy with most of ours, but have discovered a Lot of Ground Elder :(

Oh Yes we have some ground elder to Sheila plus some bindweed Grrrrrr ....

What a beautiful Clematis Montana. That ,and the excellent advice on the garage poster, should help to soften the blow of having horsetail in the back garden.

Hope Grazon works.

Oh my goodness, Horsetail! Good luck with eradicating it. I had to laugh at the 'message ' left in your garage. I can relate to that! Your gifted rose, Night Owl is beautiful!

Goodness me, a lot of work ahead there, but I’m sure you will do it, and hopefully it will be worth it in the end. Good luck with it.

Horsetail is a real pain in the a$$, I had it in a previous garden where sloped down to the meadow & paddock. Being deep rooted & rhizome spreading spraying is best although I hadn't heard of Grazon before - it's jolly expensive stuff.

Love the montana & the Inner Peace sign made me laugh out loud.

Oh Amy! Bless you but the main thing is, you like the area and you're getting there, you can deal with the weeds as soon a they appear next year, with the weedkiller, youll get there x

Bit naughty of the vendors not to mention the Horsetail if they knew you were gardeners. What made them think that shingle would stop it? Sometimes, however much you don't like chemicals in the garden, a good dose or two of weed killer is the only answer to get back on an even keel. We have Bindweed and Ground Elder which is very persistent but it's very few of us who don't have one thing in the garden we don't want, be it rabbits, deer, caterpillars (like the last blog), overhanging trees, bad neighbours - well the list goes on! Be laid back and do a bit at a time and have fun with the Grandchildren.

Thanks for all your comments , We'll get there one day we're taking it one day at a time we can only do so much in a day .

Its a good job you have the blessing of visits from the grandchildren ... keep the chin up and as others have said just take it one day at a time, I`m sure you will eradicate the THUG eventually.

It is great to find new plants......not weeds of course.

Some beautiful newbies there Amy sorry to hear about the horse tail. Love find with the orchid.

Oh Amy, it really has been a challenge at every turn and to have Horsetail!!! I do feel for you being in my 3rd summer fighting it myself. Like you we didn't know about it before we moved in and no matter how much I kill mine off, like you it is also in my neighbours garden which they don't treat at all so will keep coming back. Hadn't like Green fingers I hadn't heard of Gazon. Saying all that, how lovely to have your grandchildren close by. You have added some lovely plants.

Great,you've achieved such a lot in such a short time though to have both horsetail and ground elder in one garden is certainly bit much and the Peace advice sounds just the job(Made OH laugh too, which is quite an achievement)
That Darmera is grand - looks all set for getting huge. Let us see when it flowers please!

Hope you are feeling less stressed now its all over bar the gardening, lol...

Thanks girls ,I agree Honeysuckle I suspect the agents didn't know as it was dormant at the time ,Jen I have a feeling the horsetail is going to be an ongoing job I've been inspecting where its been grazon sprayed ( £60 a litre ) and can see small green shoots appearing from the ground round the dead looking plants its regenerating from the roots ,what a nightmare .. Grrrrrrr

I'm sure you will have read all there is to know about this nightmare weed. I read one story about how contractors when digging out a tunnel found the roots hanging down above them ....so is there anything good about it? Well, it's classified as an herb, because it does have practical uses. The plant sends up hard, greyish spires in spring, which quickly develop bristly, bright green fronds. These abrasive fronds are loaded with silica, so the Romans used them to scour pots and pans. In the Middle Ages, pewter, brass, copper and wood also got a shine from horsetail.

Today, the stems are said to make a good hair rinse and nail strengtheners. Steep a few in a couple of cups of boiling water, and then cool. Massage this liquid into the scalp after shampooing, or soak fingernails for 20 minutes. One gardener I know swears by a fertilizer tea made from steeping handfuls of horsetail in a bucket of water.
Mostly found in damp areas, this is one of the toughest plants on the planet. It has survived unchanged since prehistoric times (geologists sometimes find fossilized specimens) and actually looks quite handsome -rather like a miniature Christmas tree.

It thrives in boggy or damp, poor soil & likes a half day of sun, so have you considered covering the area in black plastic (you could put the gravel on top) & leaving it for several years?

Mari you almost make me feel proud to own such a prehistoric herb Lol ,seriously it's already covered in a liner with the gravel over the top we have to cut holes in it to plant anything , also I read covering it with anything plastic ,carpet squares, concrete etc. is exactly the conditions it loves in which case it could well be making the situation worse .. our soil is very sandy it seems Mares -tail likes living near water or damp ground Horse-tail isn't so fussy it apparently doesn't like good fertile ground maybe I should make fertiliser from it and then feed it back to it Ha ha ...

Hi Amy! It's such a joy to see you back online. I'm happy you are settling into your new digs and it sounds like a lovely place - those seaside walks. I also cherish my long walks along the beach, even on the off-season. I talk to God, lol! Welcome back.

Pleased to know you are happy there Amy, it is a joy to be able to see more of the family isn't it.. I wish you luck with the dreaded horsetail and ground-elder, I tackle both every summer knowing full well it will return, ours is only in the front, thankfully, so I can use weedkiller, it comes up through the granite on the driveway, no plants or pets to harm out there. Enjoy your new garden Amy, you deserve some therapy after all that's been going on these last few months, I cannot think of a better way to get you back on track...

Hi Paul ,Thank you I'm beginning to feel 'normal ' again ,if there is such a thing Ha ha . I'm loving the beach walks there's a beach where the trees are old and falling from the cliff onto the beach bleached white in so many strange sculptures its amazing and nobody else in sight time and space to dream I pick up stones to place on my little sink gardens and look out for Amber its one of the few places where it can be found ...Paul the Toms are doing well also the Marigold plants from the seed you sent me the only seeds not doing so well are the Butterfly milkweed I only have one little plant which is still small I inspect it every day to see if its grown ,fingers crossed for that ..
Oh Lincs I thought once we had treated the horsetail with Grazon it would be the end of it but countless people are saying it will come back Grrrr .. x

Beach walks are so mind cleansing aren't they? - to hear the waves crashing, the ocean breeze. Glad to hear the seeds are growing well for you. The butterfly milkweed is so finicky. I only got 2 plants from a whole pack of seeds. They are decent plants now and are trouble free once established.

I have your salvias growing in my front garden. I can't wait to see the electric blue flowers. I also have your tomatoes growing in my tomato patch. It's enjoying the warm sunshine and growing like crazy. I already have it staked. Nice to hear from you Amy. Glad things are looking up.

Glad things are starting to get back to resembling something like normal, Amy.

What a terrible thing to find in your new garden! I once saw what I thought at the time was Horsetail in a park I once visited, maybe Cambridge Botanical Gardens, I'm not sure now. These gardens are so big that a plant like that could go unnoticed.

I hope you get on top of it - one day at least! It seems it's quite difficult to get rid of.

Do you know how long it takes for Hepatica nobilis seeds to germinate?

They do look similar but Marestail is aquatic & flowers wheras Horsetail isn't & doesn't.
Whatever you do don't dig anywhere where the horsetail is as like bindweed it will grow from the smallest bit of root.
Covering it with anything that keeps the light out is the recommended organic method.
I found this info which may be helpful to you:

''This is the most productive method of applying weedkiller to hill horsetail weed.
Mix Glyphosate with a small amount of wallpaper paste until it becomes sticky enough to stick to the waxy horsetail stems and leaves without running off.
On a dry day, brush or spray the mix directly onto the Horsetail. You will almost certainly need to repeat this as new shoots appear.
Crushing or cutting the weed will help the glyphosate enter the plant and get taken down into the roots.
If you are cutting the plant back before applying the weedkiller mix, dispose of the cuttings by burning or rotting down in a bin liner. Never add them to compost, send to landfill or dump in the countryside.

Check Strength actually is 360g/l when buying concentrated Glyphosate weed-killer.

It has two types of growth, in spring brown asparagus-like shoots appear with cones at the tips and these produce spores that are dispersed by wind and reproducing almost wherever they land. Later thin green, branched stems appear dying back in winter. Both are produced from creeping underground roots called rhizomes.

Don't dig over the area for at least a year, otherwise the Horsetail weed is almost certain to spring up from the root cuttings.
Very difficult to eradicate it completely, but it can be kept under control by using Glyphosate & paste method.''

David I sent you a PM...
Thanks Mari I'll print that info .off if this Grazon doesn't work it will be somethings else to try .. I have an awful feeling its sending out new shoots already ... :o(

TBH, Amy, there isn't a sure fire method of getting rid of it, it's more how best to control it.
The waxy coating makes it difficult for the chemical to be absorbed, I've always added a few drops of washing up liquid to break the surface tension.
Many manufacturers claim there product will kill it but if there was one such product all the horse owners with paddocks would know about it.
Bare in mind it spreads by spores as well as rhizomes.

Old gardeners advice;- never let it see a Sunday. (i.e. cut it back once a week)

I hope you get rid of that horsetails Amy. It will keep reappearing if you don't eradicate it completely. Such a shame it's in your new garden when you've got so much else to do.

Beautiful orchid and lovely new plants :) xxx

Just catching up Amy ....

Its not looking that bad to be honest and to find a orchid is a good omen ...

montana looks well cared for and that weedkiller is working a treat

Gg

Oh, poor you, - that horsetail sounds like a nightmare!
But you have sone AMAZING plants! How wonderful to find the marsh orchid. Like you I'm planting a seaside garden into gravel in windy E. Anglia, so I'll be fascinated to follow your progress.