Very little kills Mare's tail. You need to bruise the stems somehow so that any weed killer can get into the plant cells, otherwise it just runs off.
Long term job as well.

Kurtail Gold (previously known as Kibosh & Kurtail) reckons it has the answer to Mare's Tail. Good garden centres or Online. This is expensive so I would go for Roundup (Glyphosate) then crush the stems as OB advises.

Thanks.
Sadly I have no idea where the tail came from. There seems to be a lot of round up and at £55 it is expensive.
the sprigs have been 2 inches long up to now. It is an area we all walk by inc the dog.
Bit to think about as removal takes time

As you don't have much yet, careful use of a systemic herbicide is probably best. To help absorption putting a small plastic bag over them & tying off as low as possible should cause wilting in this heat.
The bit that you really need to kill is the spore spreading shoots that pop up from early Spring. They're shaped a little like asparagus but mushroom coloured & can spread tens of thousands of spores. I use the cheap freezer bags you can get on a roll, cover shoots & pull them out & bin them. They're not as tough as the green plant.
Having a scan around for where they're coming from might be an idea too, they're burgers if the get established!

Roundup and weedkillers from Wilkinsons at reasonable prices, lots for under £10. Tree and Stump Killer will sort out tough weeds. Have a look On Line.

My marestail started at the beginning of last year and has now spread from one corner of the garden to the other, including inside my greenhouse between the 2 x 2 concrete flags ! But for one reason or another there’s none at all in my lawn - is this one area where it can’t get a hold ?

Oops, just noticed the problem was horse tail. Am now looking up the difference.

Even with regular mowing it'll eventually get into the lawn. It's been around since before the dinosaurs, I believe, so it's definitely a survivor!

Hi, there's a lot of confusion about mares tail and horsetail, both being accepted, however horse tail, Equisetum arvense, grows on land, and marestail, is an aquatic plant, Hippurus vulgaris, so really there should be no confusion, but unfortunately there is, the advice given above is for horsetails, and should work,[eventually], Derek.

Hi, I found this group when trying to find a way to sort out horse tail in my garden this I had just moved into in 2015. With Horse tail, unfortunately the roots go down up to 10ft so it is really hard to get rid of in you garden. As it has a wax coating, using most weed killers, the plant needs bruising 1st. This will only kill off top growth so it can take years to finally kill it off completely by weakening the root system. I have 3 dogs, so like you I have to be careful. What I do is get a plastic pop bottle, cut the bottom off,, put it over the weed/horsetail pushed into the ground and then spray weedkiller through the neck of the bottle and then put the top back on. 4 years on I am still fighting it but less has started to come up.

Oh horsetail can spread due to it's root system so if your neighbours have it and don't also treat it then it will keep coming back into your garden. The weedkiller that I use is called Gullup. Where I live is farming countryside and get it from a farming store. It works out so much cheaper then buy pre made up from normal shops.

That's a good idea Jen, thanks!

Now a sprig in the border & a new post bah Small tho