Couch Grass

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Have dug one sack out today from about 1.5m square, think it has been cultivated on my plot!  hehe    Took the best prt of the afternoon to do that bit!  The previous guy to have the plot came to say hello today and appologised!  Ah well got about 50m square to do!

Shame you can't sell couch grass or there is no use for it, as I would be rich! 

Cheers

Dave

[buzzy bee]

Hi

An after thought, if I was to put some round up on, under the plastic silage sheeting that is now on it, how long does it take to kill it, and how long until the soil is safe to plant in?

Cheers

Dave

[Hector]

Good luck with it Buzzy Bee...we too are wrestling couch grass at present. Hot shower and a glass of alcohol for muscle relaxation does help
Jackie

[caroline7758]

Couch grass, otherwise known as"spawn of Satan". Or is that bindweed? I have started soaking all the weeds I dig out in big buckets of water, with a view to composting them in a couple of months and using the "juice" as fertiliser, and that makes me feel a little bit better!

[keef]

Hi

An after thought, if I was to put some round up on, under the plastic silage sheeting that is now on it, how long does it take to kill it, and how long until the soil is safe to plant in?

Cheers

Dave

Covering it does'nt really kill it at all - although maybe after years and years it might make some difference. There are loads of newbies on our allotments this year, they all bunged down plastic last year - some in the spring last year, seems to me like just as much couch is coming up now...

Once you have cleared it keeping the edges clear is very important as it wont take long to spread back in. I have proper edge to my allotment, and keep it trimmed and with a bit of a trench in front - this seems to stop it spreading back in.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I bet they didn't think to dig the edges of the plastic in to stop the roots running in underneath. If you do that, black plastic works. Digging it out also works, but it takes patience.

[caroline7758]

Digging it out also works, but it takes patience.

That's the couch AND the plastic!

[Unwashed]

I don't think applying roundup under black plastic will be too successful because roundup needs to be metabalised by geen growing leaves.  Couch is over-rated as a weed.  Keep it strimmed down hard and dig the plot through - this is the hard part, then pull the worst out of the workable soil as it tries to grow back.

[caroline7758]

Think this may be in the wrong forum?

[Robert_Brenchley]

Once you get the mat of couch out, it becomes a lot easier. The roots are tough, and are easy to get out in one piece with a bit of patience. Every time you clear a crop, get out all the weeds you can see. You may well find that couch is far from the most persistent!

[lottie lou]

Grow spuds between it.  It helps break up the roots

[Robert_Brenchley]

Spuds are good as they swamp weeds, then you dig the ground over lifting them. By that time there shouldn't be much left of them, but get most of it out first!

[carbonel11]

Apparently the roots are full of starch so you can dry them and pulverise them to make couch grass flour  Or you can ferment them to make couch grass beer  I think the old credit crunch would have to get much worse before I tried either of these ideas.

[grannyjanny]

OH dug over our plot & took out all the couch he could see. It is now resprouting. I am taking out each piece as it appears. Someone said to just keep hoing it of & it will weaken it. Is that theory true, am I wasting my time?
Janet

[Unwashed]

OH dug over our plot & took out all the couch he could see. It is now resprouting. I am taking out each piece as it appears. Someone said to just keep hoing it of & it will weaken it. Is that theory true, am I wasting my time?

This is what I do, though I don't make any great effort to get it all out first time round.  When it's grown up enough to get hold of I just help it out with the fork.

[pigeonseed]

I think you slowly weaken its hold over years of cultivation, but I definitely found it the worst weed on my old plot - wait and see on the new one!

bindweed grows v fast and is a  pest but much more satisfying to pull up!

Couch grass is such an amazing survivor, it seems a shame you can't find some use for it! (I agree not sure about beer or flour either...  )

[saddad]

It makes excellent compost... brings up lots of minerals... but needs killing, drowning is best... or drying if you can. Then bagging in the dark for a year or two. Supposed to prevent re establishment as well, but not so sure about that.. 

[powerspade]

Geoffrey Smith used to say "It takes 7 years to dig it out and 1 year to grow bank" In other words you have to keep at it all the time

[saddad]

I certainly lost twenty feet from the back of my lottie in one season when I wasn't well.... 

[small]

I have been fighting couch in my garden for 25 years - it encroaches from rough grassland and drainage ditch edges, and from where the previous owner spent his time rotovating the whole 3/4 acre, chopping the couch into tiny fragments which are still emerging.  I've found the only solution to be constant forking and removing, I won't use chemicals. Luckily we have 'brown bin' collections so it goes in there. As for the suggestion of planting potatoes - I've dug up tubers with couch tips penetrating them! Having said all that, I'll take couch over wild mallow, dandelion and dock any day.