A flora for pond edges , peat bog gardens and other pie-eyed sites , horsetail - plant - dangerous - dogs.html)-plant - severe - dogs.html ) ( Equisetum hyemale ) grows in stand of bamboo - like , blue green stems . Also called scouring rush , horsetail is unfearing in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 3 through 11 , and is a fellow member of an ancient plant family that dates back 350 million years , notes the Missouri Botanical Garden . One reason for this perennial ’s long survival of the fittest is its extremely belligerent public exposure habit , but grow horsetail in containers gives you some control .
Containing Horsetail
Horsetail spreads outwards through underground stems called rootstock , and container provide a barrier to these rootstock . plant life horsetail in a container , with drain holes , that ’s just declamatory enough to hold the plant ’s source chunk . lay a sheet of hunky-dory mesh , such as sieve interlocking , over the drain holes to prevent horsetail rhizomes from farm through them , and spread a layer of cosmopolitan aim potting filth over the mesh . Place the horsetail in the container . The top of the root ball should be 1 inch below the container rim . take in gaps around the beginning ball with more potting soil , and put on water until it runs though the drainage fix .
Planting in Water
Horsetail boom in water gardens and on stream banks . Providing year - round color and structure in besotted , full - sunshine and partial - nicety sites , horsetail abide water to a astuteness of 4 inches over its roots . To add horsetail to your water garden or pond land site , spread a 1 - in level of crushed rock over the potting dirt in the horsetail container to protect it . position brick on the bottom of the planting site to provide a house , stratum radical . Sink the horsetail container into the water system slowly until it ’s drown and resting securely on the brick .
Planting in Soil
Horsetail provide unassailable , erect lines in Japanese gardens and can acquire where few other plant life survive . drudge a hole 2 or 3 inch wide of the mark than the horsetail container and 1 inch less recondite . invest the container in the hole , and hold back that it ’s level . Twisting the container and pushing down gently helps dismantle the container and firm the soil beneath it . Check that the container lip is protruding from the soil by 1 column inch , and fulfill in the gaps around it with dug filth . Water the ground around the container to root the soil , and fill up in any hollows with more soil .
Controlling Horsetail
Prune on a regular basis to operate horsetail ’s propagate habit . Horsetail grow 2 to 4 invertebrate foot improbable and fan out indefinitely in favorable conditions . Check the horsetail monthly , at least , for rhizome mount over the container rim and staunch with cone shape - like , spore - producing head word , which ordinarily appear in leaping . white pruning shear blades with rubbing alcohol , and prune escaping rhizomes and fruiting stem at basis level . pass over the pruning shear blade with rubbing alcohol again after use . position pruned horsetail debris in a sealed fictile grip in the trash . Do n’t produce horsetail in areas accessible to dearie or livestock . Horsetail can be deadly to animals when deplete .
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