Topic: Sick of couch!!!!

[Ishard]

I found out today that the guy who used to have my plot sprayed glyso 7 times, yes 7 times, to get rid of the couch and the dam stuff still didnt die. (In the end he moved to a different plot as he couldnt cope)

 No wonder my measly 2 applications of glyso didnt even dent it.

I am sick to death of the stupid weed!! Grr!!

I am digging down over 3 feet and the roots are still there!!

So, I have given up trying to clear the plot this year and just weeding as I plant and weeding between the crops. Time will tell if I even get a crop.

Anyone got any napalm?

[Fork]

Thought it said "sick on the couch"

I was going to say get well soon  ;D

Just keep on digging and hoeing and you will get there eventually.

[Vortex]

I'm on heavy clay. Before I took my plot on 2 years ago the council obviously rotavted it a couple of times. Now I have a couch problem that resembles a raffia mat - interspersed with bind weed.
By careful digging with a fork I've been able to remove 95% of the couch first time, and eliminate it entirely from the finished beds within a year.
However on my plot the roots don't go down more than 6" - the main problem I have is with globe artichokes - the roots of these go down several feet, and they regenerate from the smallest amount of root. They're worse than bind weed - I achieve 95% eradication of this first time as well, and its deeper rooted.
The down side is it takes me 2 hours to dig an area 6ft wide by 18" long, and I've only managed to clear 2/3 of my 22ft by 38ft plot. I don't view it as a race however, just a long slow task that I only want to have to do once.

[Mr Smith]

Ishard,
              Same same here I have just started to apply a similar weedkiller to get rid of the bit that I do have, I put some onion sets in and they are not doing to well because of the couch, glad I'm not the only one in MM with the problem :)

[southernsteve]

When I took over my plot 3 years ago it was covered with couch grass. I left it until September then put weedkiller on, sorry can't remember which one. Left it again for about a month until it all looked dead, then started digging it over, trying to take out as much root as possible. Last year I had next to no couch growing, and any that did come through was dug out. This year nothing.
Next to my plot is a large area of unworkable land which is covered in the stuff. To stop it encroaching I initially dug a 6 inch trench round the plot and laid old carpet around 2 foot wide to form a barrier. I was a bit short on the carpet, so the bit left I moved with an old lawn mower. On the plot itself I have sown grass seed on the paths.
According to an organic site I looked at some time back, couch grass won't go into the ground more than 6 inches, hence the trench, hates being mown, and doesn't like dug over soil. The latter should make it easy to just pull out.
This year i have had no problems at all, and there is no trace on the plot. All the stuff round the outside is being kept firmly at bay.

[sarah]

i would be very surprised if the roots you are finding three feet down are couch grass roots as it is a reletively shallow rooted plant and usually they dont go much deeper than a spit.  vigilant digging and removal of any roots shoud sort couch grass out really (though i still have it in abundance).  are you sure the deep roots are not something else such as bindweed?

[Robert_Brenchley]

The only time couch roots go deep is when someone's accidentally dug them in. I can't see anyone dong that three feet down. and I doubt whether they'd make it up that far if they did. What do the roots look like?

[ipt8]

Glysophate/Roundup should easily kill couch. Are you using a profesional one that you buy in litre or 5 litre concentrate, or some diluted stuff from a garden centre. try and find a farm supplie that sells it. You will find a litre costs about £19. You will find a mix of 3 fl oz in 5 litres of water is what people used in the past, but I cant recomend that as one has to be qualified to give advice on herbicides.
It is possible to spray it on incorrectly. You should have a fine spray and just wet the foliage.  Spraying to run-off is no good  and using a watering can is no good. Something to do with the herbicide running off rather than being absorbed by the foliage. Cool moist days are best when the plant is growing, not very hot when it is shutting down to preserve moisture.