- Marsh horsetail - a danger to grazing animals
- Mechanical control is best carried out in the spring
- Chemical agents only have a short-term effect
Marsh horsetail is one of the most poisonous plants found in swampy pastures. Combating the marsh horsetail is very difficult and usually short-lived. The most successful is mechanical removal (undercutting) of the herb.
Marsh horsetail is not only extremely stubborn, to make matters worse it is also poisonous
Marsh horsetail - a danger to grazing animals
Marsh horsetail contains alkaloids that can be very dangerous for grazing animals such as horses, cattle and sheep. Fighting the herb effectively and permanently is very difficult and involves a lot of effort.
Success is usually short-lived. The best way to combat it would be to drain the meadow. However, this is almost always impossible as affected pastures are often located near streams and canals.
Marsh horsetail reproduces via underground rhizomes that form wide stolons. Waterlogging and compacted soils do not bother him. Most farmers therefore rely on mechanical removal of the subterranean offshoots. This type of control is also recommended for horsetail in the garden.
- Marsh horsetail propagates by runners
- Combat by undercutting makes the most sense
- Use of weed killers not permanently effective.
Mechanical control is best carried out in the spring
The best time to control swamp horsetail is early spring. It is controlled by cutting under the willow surface at a depth of 30 to 40 centimetres.
This form of control is very time-consuming and usually only helps for a few weeks. The marsh horsetail will then sprout again if extensive grazing by cattle and horses does not follow.
The animals kick down the newly sprouting herb, so that poisoning by the marsh horsetail is not to be feared.
Chemical agents only have a short-term effect
Various attempts to combat marsh horsetail with chemical agents have proven ineffective in the past.
The underground runners are too deep in the earth for the poison to reach them. Even an application after an undercut shows only moderate and certainly no lasting success. In the meantime, this type of control is also prohibited because of the high soil load.
tips
A pasture or meadow infested with horsetail may only be grazed by cattle or horses if the food supply of non-poisonous plants is large enough. If there is enough food, the animals avoid poisonous plants such as the marsh horsetail on their own.