The cattail (horsetail, horsetail) is one of the survivors in the plant kingdom. If he finds favorable conditions, the plant spreads rapidly and is difficult to push back. In this article you can find out how to combat the strong-growing weed.

Cat tail is extremely resilient

Horsetail: Botanical profile

The field horsetail is easy to identify:

  • The stem is ribbed and hollow.
  • The cross section of the side shoots is star-shaped.
  • The branches are arranged in whorls.
  • The brownish rungs are knotless.
  • The number of teeth on the leaf sheaths corresponds to the number of ribs.
  • The sprouts will not appear when the cat stalks are showing.
  • Field horsetail has no cones. This is an important distinguishing feature from the poisonous marsh horsetail.

Why is cat tail so hard to fight?

Field horsetail thrives even in soil heavily infested with herbicides or in salty water. This pioneer plant even grows on very wet, extremely nutrient-poor areas.

The horsetail forms widely branched rhizomes that can reach up to two meters deep into the ground. In order to permanently get rid of a single plant, you have to dig up about four cubic meters of garden soil and very carefully pick out all parts of the plant.

Deprive the cat tail of its livelihood

Even herbicides have little effect on this stubborn plant, which is even tolerant of pollutants. Field horsetail is considered an indicator plant for loamy to clayey and very moist soils. You can use this to your advantage in the fight against weeds:

  • Loosen up the compacted soil by digging regularly and improving the soil structure by adding sand and compost.
  • Create a bed of lupines in the affected area. These plants are great for weed control. With their impressive umbels of flowers, they not only look very appealing. Their roots also loosen up the soil and thus create conditions that the field horsetail does not like.
  • Other rhizome-forming ornamental plants such as lily of the valley are also helpful in the fight against cat tail.
  • Regular green manure provides additional soil loosening.

Moderate liming can also be useful

If the soil is too acidic, you can raise the pH with lime. However, you should definitely carry out a soil analysis in advance and dose the agent very precisely so as not to damage other plants unintentionally.

tips

Like many other herbs, the cat's tail also has healing properties. It is used as a tea or in baths. The silicic acid contained unfolds its effect in skin-tightening ointments. Therefore, do not simply throw away the removed horsetail, but make use of the effect of nature. You can find numerous recipes on the Internet and in medicinal herb books.

Category:

Herbs