Scouring Rush Horsetails Grew Back Weakly

Q: I have planters of scouring rush horsetail that make a privacy fence along
my patio. This past winter I cut them down to the dirt and fertilized them,
hoping they would become fuller. Instead, they grew back weakly and I now
have brown horsetail stems mixed with green ones. What should I do?

would be to clip off all the brown stems and then fertilize
with houseplant fertilizer. Horsetail, Equisetum hyemale, is vigorous enough
to be invasive in damp places. I’m reasonably confident your plants will
recover. If any rhizomes are alive, the fertilizer should force them to grow. If
nothing happens you’ll have to buy new plants.