Couch grass.

[beckydore]

I've finally got my first half plot at least half planted up.

I am putting in lots of potatoes and have dug out goodness knows how much couch grass... but I've still got the same area to go again.

The couch grass has been covered in black plastic since last June and is much weaker but there are still a lot of roots there and it certainly isn't killed yet.

I tried planting things last year and they lost the battle against the couch.

Obviously I know that I need to dig out the roots, or as much as I can... but has anyone got any suggestions about things to plant which will help smother the remaining couch grass / not get killed off by the competition?

I would really like to get the rest of that plot cleared this year but don't want to waste my time planting things that aren't going to cope with couch in the vicinity.

Becky

[beckydore]

[allaboutliverpool]

The only way is to dig again. Couch grass is easy to see and as long as you use a fork, relatively easy to dig out. Wait until the soil is not too wet otherwise it sticks to the roots.

Although I used glyphosate eventually, the first part of my plot was dug as it stood.

You can see from the photo that it had started growing.

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments4_digging_the_plot.html

[grawrc]

tagetes minuta - organic seed catalogue

[manicscousers]

if you have plastic, take it off, cover the ground with manure, cover it back up, cut a hole in it and grow pumpkins, squash etc through it..we've used this to clear couch but we had cardboard under the manure and it was left over winter, still, it should weaken it lots  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

That would work well; dig what you can, and put thick cardboard over the rest. Mulch  as well as you can, cover again with plastic, and plant bigger veg through holes. After another year of darkness, nothing would survive under there unless it was actually attached to a plant out in the light. These would be easy to dig out as long as you got straight onto it.

[gunnerbee]

keep digging and digging! got it everywhere in my garden!

[janafolly]

Hi,
One thing that is meant to control couch grass, but I must admit I have never tried it, is planting parsnips where the grass grows.
No idea how it works, or even if it works, but the idea came from an elderly allotmentear.

JW

[bupster]

Yes, I've been told turnips, and have planted a row where the edges of the bed are riddled with the stuff. I've also found that planting rye grass as a green manure competed quite well, but in the end you're digging the d**n stuff up. I don't expect to have a plot fully cleared of perennials for years yet. As long as you've either got most of it up or are planting through plastic you'll do fine - year before last I had no time and 20 tomato plants, so covered with weed suppressant, dug small holes and filled with compost. Tomatoes did fine.

[manicscousers]

hiya, janafolly, welcome to the site, never heard it before but worth a try  ;D

[davee52uk]

I used to dig the stuff and remove all the white roots of the couch grass. At night I would have dreams/nightmares about the white roots.

There doesn't seem to be much of an alternative to digging but at least the roots don't go down very far.

I dug most of the couch grass out but that let the bindweed grow - now that's another story!

[saddad]

Hi Janafolly and welcome to the madhouse...
;D

[loopyloulou]

probably the wrong thing to do but im going to cover the potato/toms bed in thick newspaper n plastic and stones 2 weight it down and then plant the pots/toms thru it, it is the last bit on the rota to dig and im a 1/4 of the way thru (says she optimistically) im told the spuds break the ground up and as they need "earthing" up im kinds hoping the newspaper etc will do something similar while smothering the ground... i realise ill need to dig the couch grass out eventually but im hoping itll be easier and more rewarding when im digging up some yummy spuds... its been weedkillered already but am trying 2 prevent it regrowing b4 i get chance 2 dig... thats the plan anyway!!! will let you know how it goes.. (or doesnt!) fingers crossed ive not completely lost the plot! (boom boom) im just hoping we get some warm dry wind free weather soon, i cant dig in poor weather as ive got a 2yr old and 4yr old with me... and while ok the weather isnt THAT bad, they moan and follow me around moaning some more when it isnt picnic weather so i dont get anything done  :(
i do like the idea of planting parsnips or turnips tho... do you just plant them in the grass or do you still have 2 dig n then plant n hope 4 the best? im sure there was grass (dont know what sort tho) growing in the turnip beds when we took on our plot tho, we didnt see the veg till we weeded...and the dock didnt mind growing with them....

[beckydore]

Thanks. I have got a few squash seeds so I will try that.

Whilst a lot of the roots in the ground are white / cream I am also noticing quite a few darker brown / black roots. Do I need to pull those too?

Fortunately I've also taken on a second half plot which is in good shape so when I go down there I spend about 2/3 of the time pulling out couch grass then 1/3 doing simple digging and planting on the new plot.

Becky

[Plot69]

Hi,
One thing that is meant to control couch grass, but I must admit I have never tried it, is planting parsnips where the grass grows.
No idea how it works, or even if it works, but the idea came from an elderly allotmentear.

Now if only I could get parsnips to grow :)

Welcome to the asylum.

[Need a Leek]

Hi All, I have spent the last week on our second plot digging a row then on my knees picking out the white roots and putting them in a barrow "and so on" ( cant wait to get back to work for a rest). I am sort of worried  that the next time me and my good lady go to an Italian restaurant as I will need a barrow next to me if I were to have the Spag Bol'  ;). I really must get these white root images out of my swede :).

Cheers
Tony

[Deb P]

'Tis the spawn of the devil that stuff, my plot was completely covered with it, I'm just fighting a few stubborn patches a year and a half later.

Covering will eventually work, I had one small patch by my old shed that I bunged a folded up tarp over last year until I got around to doing something with it, and it was almost totally clear when I removed it the other day. Dug it over and mulched it with a bag of couch roots that had completely rotted down in a plastic bag and was now lovely compost! The stuff has got a use if you can be patient.....but I confess I put most of my dug out stuff in the dump green waste section....there was just too much of it!

[jaqz]

haaaaaaa - its good to know you are not alone!

We had sadly let our plot get a bit overgrown last year and it had returned with a vengence, most beds are now clear ( as clear as is possible of course), But I spent a day yesterday moving my strawberries to pots to free up an extra bed and ended up spending most of the time Couching! - will pop back tonight for an afterwork couch session - its a battle of wills  ;D

Its now in bags , so might try the composting it down idea.

[manicscousers]

hiya, jaqz, nice to meet you, sounds like a good thing to do, couching around  ;D

[sawfish]

Couch isnt a big problem. Just dig most of it out (laborious), then dig it out again when it grows. Its no big problem if you're physically able its not deep rooted, you'll get rid of 95% of it it in a couple of years if you make an initial sustained effort, then its easy.

[bupster]

Sawfish is right - looks like a hideous job, and is in your first year, but it gets better if you stay on top of it and it is quite shallow so you can beat the bugger.