Equisetum arvense

It's that time of year again, war on #horsetail starts! We went to "quickly" put in the potatoes before working on the shed, and ended up having to dig the bed over thoroughly to get rid of all the #roots... This lot was from about 1sq metre...

Been fighting a 5 year battle with these in my garden. Only Just getting the upper hand (I think) 🤔

Yeah, they're a nightmare! @jeatacake @gjones The one thing which I was delighted about is that the chickens love eating them, more than anything else! They've made a big difference in stopping the spores.

That is very useful 👍 I beleive they like slugs & snails too!

Yeah, they're great for keeping down all sorts of pests, they even chase and hunt butterflies! There was a noticeable difference in the cabbages. @jeatacake

Wow, that's great. I've almost given up growing brassicas here due to the cabbage white caterpillars!

Well, if you ever want to hatch out some little helpers, we have plenty of eggs available! @jeatacake

I might just take you up on that! 👍🐣😁

These things just keep getting creepier... Dug up a bunch of roots this afternoon, they go on a long way... #zombie #weed #horsetail

What the...? Wugh

I hate these things! They're now known as 'dead man's fingers' in our house since hundreds of them break through the ground overnight... One of them actually pushed some of my asparagus roots out of the ground today! 😠 #zombie #weeds #horsetail

Eghh! Haha they're creepy lookin things!!

Zombies rising from ground Arrrghh

I think these might be indicators for "boggy ground" prone to flooding. Might be an idea to raise (heap) your beds on this patch?

Your soil does look light sandy loam (alluvial)

You're right @no_akira , we do have some rather wet ground, not helped by the fact that the grass was a couple of feet high when we started! They're coming right up through the raised beds at the moment but I hope wth time the load will reduce and we'll keep them cut down to stop them spreading more spores...

Last pic of the morning... Found this growing all over the side field, no idea what it is. Seems kind of brittle and hollow... Anyone know? #plantid

Research seems to indicate it is a #horsetail ...

Never seen before, Tara, sorry!

This is a f*@#ing pest. Do not let it near your garden. Spreads everywhere and grow above most plants. We are riddled with it.

Yeah unfortunately it's all over @namtabirl it's an absolute nightmare...

Can't believe this is still on the market. Was also at Chelsea, Chapstow and in GW magazine! Mental I tell you!!! Mad people!!

That's crazy, they're selling it?? @namtabirl