British Columbia: Horsetails in new topsoil

We recently relandscaped our property adding new beds using topsoil and mulch from the landscaping company who created the beds for us. The gardens are now full of horsetails and also morning glory. Is there any recourse that we can take against the company? We have never had horsetails on our property. I'm not looking forward to the extra maintenance this has created when we were trying to create a low maintenance garden!

 

I've seen field horsetail growing out of the backs of topsoil piles in sales yards here.

 

As its a recent bed of soil, you had best act now and try to remove all of the root systems before the soil is compacted. There is no chemical that will really eradicate the Horsetail, so hands and knees it is. It will only get worse. Sorry that there is no better answer.

 

I am hoping to get a few more responses on this topic. Last fall we had our entire yard redone. Brought in 6'' of topsoil to cover the yard and now have an ever growing horsetail problem. Is there any recourse to take against the soil company? Do they have any regulations to follow to prevent spreading invasive weeds?

 

for sure this needs to be dealt with sooner than later - and it will likely take a few years to eradicate. It's like your cup of tea `15 minute chore every early morning / sunset evening.

make sure you do NOT put them in the green waste - otherwise you're possibly sending your dreaded weeds to another garden down the line.

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have you contacted the landscaper?
small claims court?

we bought probably 5000.xx (five thousand) dollars worth of soil that was riddled with fireweed - I still have it coming up 6 years later. and the supplier had promised us that it was "baked" soil (ie heated) -

but basically any old lumber and stumps and stuff is sent to the process plant at the boom grounds (log sort) and they turn around and sell it to mix in with soil etc.

Salish Soil is a first nations brand out of Sechelt. Fish farm offal, ground up wood, etc.
you'd have to check the exact ingredients, how it is processed, what it is safe for (growing veggies?) and where it is avail in Surrey area.
http://salishenvironmentalgroup.com/

i have always had good luck with "Sea Soil" - from the north end of the island - Port Hardy I think.

 

Thank you for the response. I did contact the landscaper but they will not acknowledge that the problem has come from them. I was hoping there would be a reporting system to warn others about bad soil or a way to have officials deal with it to avoid further spread.

I will be out there everyday. :) I also heard to increasing the fertility of the soil could help.

 

I had a small infestation of horsetail near my pond on Lopez Is, Wash. I also had several ducks. (My Daughter tends to collects stray critters) The ducks liked the horsetail and would bite it off and ground level. Quite soon "no horsetail". Rather than getting ducks try cutting the stalks gently with clippers at ground level. It seems, any stimulation of the plant encourages growth. It will be tedious, but hopefully will work. Good luck and let me know if it works for you. barb