Q How can I eliminate horsetail from my plot without weedkillers?
Karen Preston, Worcestershire
A BOB SAYS Equisetum cannot be eliminated, ever, from an individual patch. The problem is your infestation is a small part of a huge network often extending to acres so, no matter how well you kill off every bit in your patch, it will return, and do so rapidly.
Only if you can isolate the whole plant can you get rid of it, in which case the most effective method is to put the entire area to grass, which you close-cut weekly for three years or more, by which time the roots are exhausted and expire. If you could make an effective barrier and could exclude roots returning you might succeed, but they root pretty deeply. Accept it’s there, feed and water your crops more to compensate and remove all shoots as they appear.