It will invade your lawn!! Only time I have seen it used successfully is a cement container about 2 1/2 ft high. If there is a crack in the bottom, it will escape!

Rosemary makes an excellent hedge, looking good all year around, only requiring regular shearing if you want a formal appearance. Al

Will I rue the day I planted it?

Yes.

Thanks for the clear answer. I will plant Horsetail Reed in the garden of my buddy who constantly beats me at poker. That'll teach him.

Renee, thanks for the suggestions. I'll look at them. The link you sent me looks very promising for my use.

Grow it in your water feature (I have a half wine barrel). You will still need to pull it out every 3 to 6 months and yank a bunch of roots that threaten to fill the water feature and clog the pump, but this way it cannot escape confinement. It is a handsome plant.

Hi everyone, opening up the discussion on the Horsetail Reed :) You mentioned it's invasive. Could you tell me how it propagates? Is by seed in the wind, or is by it's root system like bamboo. As you've already figured, I am newbee and just get started with setting up my backyard :)

The underground runners spread everywhere. It does not have flowers--being so ancient (350 million years) it predates plants that produce flowers. It produces spores, like a fern--so this could produce new plants, but most of the problem is the spreading underground runners.

As another interesting hedge you could try elephant bush. It's rather short and very little to no water.. It will need to be trimmed into shape and is slow growing but..it takes little water. or you can try ligustrum..only needs water a couple times a month when established.

Healdsburg Estate Garden · More Info

portulacaria afra · More Info

I remember growing up and loving to play in my Mom's garden in Monterey - filled with horsetail reeds, flowering trees, water fountains and plants of all kinds. The reeds spread quickly, but always stayed in that area. Out of nostalgia, I planted some in a 1/2 wine barrel about 2 months ago and it's double the size. It's on concrete, so I'm not too worried about it, but I have read that you have to trim the little seed pods off or they'll release spores everywhere. They're cool looking plants, though.

I saw a beautiful hedge one time made out of lantana. It was full of purple flowers and just looked beautiful.

P. afra is not short. I have some on my property line that are 10 feet tall. Slow and controllable? Yes, but they can eventually get pretty big if you let them.