While it’s not impossible, it’s certainly difficult to get rid of horsetail plants (Equisetum hyemale and Equisetum arvense) in your garden. Here, we’ll share two techniques you can attempt to help you deal with this resilient plant.
| Botanical name | Equisetum |
| Common horsetail names | scouring rush, snake grass, or horse pipes |
| Plant type | Evergreen perennial |
| Flower Color | It is a non-flowering plant |
| Size when mature | 1-6 feet wide, 2-6 feet tall |
| Sunlight exposure | Does well in full sun or partial shade |
| Soil pH | 6.5 -7.5 |
| Soil type | Well draining soil that is moist |
| Native area | (Most of the northern hemisphere) Eurasia and North America |
| Hardiness Zones | 4-9 |
Gardeners who have experience with horsetails understand how this ancient plant has survived for close to 350 million years.
Today, horsetail, also known as ‘scouring rush’, is grown as a perennial in USDA zones 3 through 11. It is a fast-growing plant that can reach up to 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide.
Horsetail Equisetum arvense or Equisetum hyemale can function as:
- A modern-looking landscape accent plant.
- A disastrous plant that could be considered an invasive species as it is an aggressive plant that is extremely difficult to get rid of.
Horsetail is a true survivor. Drastic measures are needed to eradicate it if it takes over your garden or field. With that in mind, we will cover the scouring rush from both perspectives.
What is the Plant Horsetail Good For?
There are over 25 species of horsetail plant. This includes annual and perennial types. Some species of scouring rush have a vertical, grass-like form that resembles horse tails (hence the name). Other species are fern-shaped or fan-shaped.
When it comes to horsetail reeds, Equisetum hyemale and Equisetum arvense are the species you see grown in landscapes. These tall, grass-like reeds have bright green, jointed bamboo-like stems.
A horsetail reed has an exotic, vertical stem that may seem tropical.
Horsetail Equisetum arvense can liven up your garden. Its aesthetic appeal is not lost in the home landscape as seen below.
The beautiful stems make a striking statement when planted en masse. Especially near a pond or water feature. They can also be used as a groundcover or vegetative screen.
The plants grow near wet sites, bog gardens, bush and wetlands throughout the world although they don’t have to be limited to wetlands and ponds. They can be used on entryways in containers or pots arranged to mimic a border or short fence.
In between the pots of scouring rush, ornamental grass or variegated grass can be grown to show contrast and create an aesthetic effect. The textures, sizes, and shapes can blend in very well if the landscape is maintained.
To curb its uncanny ability to spread everywhere, you can plant it in a large container housed in a concrete patio. This takes away the plant’s ability to spread into the rest of your garden whilst maintaining a modern look.
How Do You Get Rid of Horsetail in My Garden?
All forms of horsetail plant grow best in poor, sandy, or gravelly soil. Some species need moisture and water while others are quite tolerant of drought.
Horsetail is often categorized as a weed because of how aggressively it spreads. You need to know which horsetail species to have in your garden:
- Equisetum hyemale has aesthetic qualities you might find pleasing.
- It’s Equisetum arvense to watch out for. It has a bushy look and grows to be eight inches tall, sometimes less. Its common name is field horsetail.
Horsetail is especially unwelcome in livestock pastures. This is because they are toxic to sheep and cattle if they eat the stems.
Horsetail plants spread through both spores and underground rhizomes. They have a wide-spreading root system. This can be quite bothersome because even after you cut down the scouring rush, it easily grows back.
If you want to get rid of horsetail, prepare for battle and try one of the following methods.
Organic Method
Your only organic method of control is to cut all the stems back to ground level. In early spring, look for the spore-bearing stalks and cut them using gardening shears. Dispose of them in a plastic bag immediately once you’re done.
As you do so you can improve the soil to make it drier, richer, and more alkaline.
Horsetail is quite resilient and it may take several seasons to eradicate all the stems this way. Worry not, you still have another option.
Systemic Herbicide
You can remove Equisetum arvense or other common horsetail varieties by using a systemic herbicide.
Spray the horsetail Equisetum with a herbicide containing triclopyr, specifically designed to treat horsetail plants.
Apply the herbicide on a windless day to avoid drift and herbicide injury to other plants in your garden. Make sure to follow the package directions carefully.
Start improving the soil once the horsetail (Equisetum) has died back. To do so, amend the soil with manure or compost to improve its fertility, texture, and drainage. You can also plant the area with grass or perennials.
Horsetail prefers sandy soil and poor growing conditions and may not grow in fertile soil. One option is to lay down landscaping fabric and mulch your garden. Do this only after you have cleared your garden of all the spore-bearing stalks.
How Do You Take Care of a Horsetail Plant?
The challenge in dealing with horsetails is in containing them. Make sure to thin the stems out annually to control the rapid and invasive spread of horsetail stems.
If you want to grow horsetail put plastic barriers in the soil or plant them in a deep pot. You can then bury the pot in the ground.
Horsetail is not a fussy plant. When it comes to fertilizer it is often unnecessary. They do not need fertile or rich soil. If your horsetail plant is struggling, you can use slow-release plant food to boost its growth.
The plant grows best with high humidity and hot sun. You don’t need to worry about scouring rush in the winter, they can still grow fine with drier air and less light. The noticeable difference is that the dark green stems fade. This goes back to normal once the weather changes.
To get the most out of your horsetail plant, do the following:
- Plant horsetail reeds in part sun or full sun.
- Ensure the soil is somewhat acidic and not overly rich.
- Water the plants frequently to keep the soil consistently moist.
- Leave a space of about 12 inches between them if you want to install multiple.
If you have a rain garden and like horsetails go for it! The plants are tolerant of dry conditions as well as wet ones. It can grow in boggy areas, on stream banks or in up to 4 inches of water.
What a nice way to accentuate your garden’s borders!
Besides field horsetail, you can grow giant horsetail or variegated horsetail.
Learn More About Horsetail and Gardening
What’s your experience with common horsetail? Does it bring out your inner wild plant enthusiast or simply annoy you? Leave a comment below!
Don’t stop there, however, if you’re a gardening enthusiast. The Gardening Channel provides all the knowledge you need to become an expert. Read articles on various plants, fruits, and vegetables. Here are just some of the many articles that may interest you:
266 Organic Gardening Tips for Beginners
What Are Weeds Good For, Anyway?
Organic Weed Control
I live in a tropical country and even now ( March ) it still feels like monsoon season, wet and rainy. Recently my potted horsetail plant turned yellow and died completely. I do not understand this because it receives alot of sunshine and as my first sentence suggests, its soil is always moist. Although have two theories on why it died (1) soil is not the right kind 2)My cats killed it) but im quite not sure being a gardening newbie.
I live in Georgia and I’m wondering why it’s not growing as fast in the pots. They have irrigation in the pots and have plenty of sun but they are still looking weak. Is there anything else I could do to help them get healthy?
they are pervasive weeds that grow in poor conditions. Be harsh to them. I love them. They are a glimps into the far ancient past. Before even seeds! Some 350M years ago. Before seeds and even seed bearing plants and leaves. They produce with spores like mushrooms. Be a hard cold bitch to them and they will thrive
I had mine in a pot for about a year. We brought it home, repotted it, and it stayed about the same size but didn’t look as healthy.
We planted in a rain garden. It’s in a location we don’t see regularly. But it fills up w water then dries out, sometimes for weeks before filling up again.
The first year in the ground it really gained a healthy appearance but not so much size.
It’s now the end of its second season. It’s taking off like we hoped it would. Its growing up and out. It’s even planted in a heavy clay soil. We have had so much on our to do list, we haven’t had a chance to work in amending the soil like we had planned.
Some plants just really don’t like being in a pot. I believe this is one of them. I cut the pot off one as soon as we brought it home from the nursery, set it down on top of the soil and it did much better than the repotted ones.
They do seem to be a delicate plant until they are established. Then they seem to thrive on “abuse”. Anytime they got through a dry spell and I don’t catch it, they grow 4 times more than they normally do when they do get a sufficient watering.
I’m sure that’s part of how they survived for so long.
If you can’t put them in the ground, try getting some microbes. Idk if they make them specifically for potted plants but they do for hydroponic. I’m guess they need something the more sterile bagged potting soil doesn’t have.
I live in Colorado Springs.
The backyard is thick with horsetail reed.
I’ve ignored that part of the yard for ten years.
What do you recommend to reclaim it for garden use again.
Thanks
Propane leaf burner
Interested in growing horsetail plant contained in a planter outdoor in on a terrace in the city. What would be the recommended minimum depth of a planter?
Be afraid, be very afraid. Wanting to grow this plague of a plant is like developing the coravirus in a lab and letting it escape into the world. It established on a slope of mine and there’s no controlling it. After 230 million years, it had learned to survive.
ADDENDUM TO A YEAR AGO: I plan to lay sod down on my slope to combat this horrible plant. Why would anyone plant scouring rush ON PURPOSE?
I have this growing around my house… I hate it and want it gone for good.. can I spray it with a vinager, salt and dish soap mixture to kill it?
Horsetail plants hate lime.
What kind of lime?
I grew horsetail in a large pot for five years. It was gorgeous. Sometimes people would ask me if it was bamboo. It died down every winter, and then grew back in the spring. One summer when I was out of town, my husband forgot to water it. It died. Tonight I’m going to take a walk along the ditch and see if I can find some to dig up and transplant.
How did you keep it growing so long? I bought 3 from a nursery to put on my balcony. It got real hot out for a couple weeks and they started looking weak before I could even plant them. Have them in their own tall pots now but one is completely dying and losing more “hair” daily, other 2 might be salvageable but looking for help to bring them back!
I am getting ready to plant Horse Tail in my back yard in a contained bed. Would installing weed barrier fabric to control other weeds from growing limit the growth and spread of the horsetail? (I want the horsetail to spread)
Don’t worry, it will…and then some! First batch I discovered and brought home 20 years ago was pushing through (and separating!) recently paved ASPHALT commercial driveway up against a building on a very hot day in Los Angeles San Fernando Valley.
Since then it’s been an ongoing love-hate relationship. “Love” because of its hardiness, unique shape, and wonderful contrast with the rest of my landscaping. “Hate” because of its hardiness, and the fact that horsetails are social butterflies which spend every waking moment trying to join EVERY BIT of the rest of my landscaping. Relentlessly.
Good luck with your “contained bed” plan. It made me smile when I read it. And as for the weed barrier fabric, once horsetails are established they will push through like it’s not there and eventually will be so thick that weeds won’t stand a chance.
I live in the Pacific Northwest. These weeds just go through asphalt. The use of pesticides is almost hopeless. Any run off will kill fish for miles. The best suggestions I have read say just leave them, and plant things that we want that will block the sunlight. Eventually killing them off. Oh yeah check the irrigation they love it if they are practically under water. Good luck
Would it be safe to plant the horsetail in concrete planter boxes, facing south ?
I have 2 large of Horsetail Reed that are doing well in Pots. I want to keep it contained, but they are constantly making spore pods on the tips. I like the look of the pods, but I’ve been pinching them off because I am afraid of them throwing seeds into other areas of my garden.
My question is-Do they spread by these spores and should I just trim the plant across the top to keep this from happening? The pinching off is a little time consuming ant they seem to grow back fast, maybe trimming down 5 inches or so would be better?
Thank you for any suggestions
I have a healthy section of horse hair in my garden but recently it’s become very too heavy and leaning over rather than standing up straight. What should I do to get it to stand straight?
This plant/weed is a nightmare. Also it is very toxic to livestock, especially horses, my horses. If anyone knows how to get rid of this devil plant please let me know. It will cause, not may cause, it will cause neurological problems and death of your horses. I am very desperate for the way to kill it. Any information is appreciated.
Die die die you bastard!
Horselover in Ohio
Under both organic and systemic herbicide use the article states that once the horsetail is cut back or dies, the soil should be improved/amended and grass or perennials should be planted. Since tilling the soil will chop up the rhizomes and spread the horsetail, how does one go about amending and planting without tilling?
Also, in regards to the systemic herbicide mentioned, can it be used in a vegetable garden?
Our back yard has about 50 Horsetail plants for maybe 6 years now. Covered complete 60′ x25′
yard in January 2021 with 6 Mil black plastic sheeting, but in late March, before we could cover
the complete yard with red lava rock, about 15 Horsetails have grown up on the sides and some
seamed areas. The thickest Horsetail area sheeting got blown over during some rain then sun
before it could be recovered. Two + months later that area has 6″ high Horsetails. Planning to
replace the tarp–if necessary?–with new sheeting. I’d like to stick a knife 2′ sideways into the soil severing the stem. Then with a hypodermic needle, injecting the severed stem with 2 + most powerful weed killers. I’d like to cap the top of the severed stem with glue, putty, or similar. Maybe all of this under the sheeting it may kill them before they can grow strong enough to grow through the sheeting. Additional additions or subtractions are welcomed, please! Thank you for being a servant to help others.
I’m thinking of planting horsetail in pots on my patio in a high-rise building in the city (concrete everywhere, so no risk of spreading out of control). But I don’t want something that sheds much and will get blown down onto the sidewalk or my neighbors patios in high winds. I considered ornamental grasses but rejected them for that reason. Can anyone tell me if this plant is a shedder?
Where can I purchase horsetail ?
Wherever snake grass is sold
How irresponsible to encourage people to grow this noxious plant
It is almost impossible to eliminate. It spreads. It chokes out grass!!
Do not grow horsetail.
What kills is? Nothing maybe the propane leaf burner but l doubt it as the roots have to be killed.
I do not have a green thumb. I kill most plants I buy. Therefore I now look for any plant known to be invasive. Then I have a chance at growing something. I am going to try horsetail near my pond
No hope for anyone who is going to grow Horsetails or Marestails. I got rid of mind but
it was not easy. My wife liked them.
I’ve been battling this plant for years, it grows everywhere and within other plants making it difficult to manually remove. Any suggestions?