Weeding couch grass

[Si D]

This year I've started several new beds in an area that had been thick with couch grass for many years before.  I dug out as much couch grass as I could but sod' law says that you are never going to get all of it.  Thus, there is some re-emerging, mostly just as single shoots, between the rows of potatoes and other stuff that I've planted.  Other, annual, weeds I'd just hoe the heads off but hoeing doesn't seem to have much affect on the couch grass as it just folds under the hoe (yep, I've sharpened it) and even if I do manage to cut through the couch it seems to have come back on my next visit a few days later.

So now I've resorted to just trying to pull it by hand.  Problem is that this takes ages and if I try to grub around to get the root out it often disturbs the my seedlings.

Any suggestions on how best to deal with it?

thanx.

[Si D]

[pete10]

A small knife just to wiggle it out with the root etc.

[ceres]

Couch grass will re-grow from the tiniest fragment of root so cutting the tops off won't get rid of it.  You do need to get the roots out.  A knife is a good suggestion or wiggle the prongs of a hand fork around it.

[caroline7758]

Join the club, Si! >:( Some would say paint weedkiller on but you may be organic and it would be a tedious job.

[Si D]

Thanks everyone.  Ah well, no silver bullet :(, going to have to do some more of that hard work (tm) stuff  ;)

Although I have used weedkiller on the plot to innitially clear sections I'm not too keen on using it near my veg now that it's growing.  Plus, I'm even less keen on spending money  :-[

[caroline7758]

If you can get something free to use as a mulch, at least that will keep some of the weeds down and keep the ground damp so you can get the b*****s out more easily.

[manicscousers]

and when you pull your spuds out, it's easier to get out with them  ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

When you harvest the crop, get out every bit you can see. If you leave a bit of ground fallow for a bit, clear out the couch before you plant. Dig with care, and you can get whole roots out without breaking them with a fork or a trowel. Be patient, and you will get it all, though it may take a couple of years.

[loopyloulou]

have u seen whats on mine si??? lol! im putting thick (free!! sutton news n observer) newspaper down where im planting the spuds uve got 4 me, its all been weedkillered but is regrowing still, newspaper will hopefully slow the regrowth n not upset the spuds....im hoping if i dig what i can out n then cover with paper n then dig what i can out with the spuds when i fetch them up (found 2 on the kids patch!!) it will help, well, dont think itll do any harm and havent the money 4 anything else, as u mayve guessed! lol! the one time im glad of the freebie papers :)

[cambourne7]

I have given my grass 3 lots of weedkiller and its made no difference.

[saddad]

I'm of the hands and knees persuasion......... and sometimes it works on the couch.....  :-X

[Si D]

have u seen whats on mine si??? lol! im putting thick (free!! sutton news n observer) newspaper down where im planting the spuds uve got 4 me, its all been weedkillered but is regrowing still, newspaper will hopefully slow the regrowth n not upset the spuds....im hoping if i dig what i can out n then cover with paper n then dig what i can out with the spuds when i fetch them up (found 2 on the kids patch!!) it will help, well, dont think itll do any harm and havent the money 4 anything else, as u mayve guessed! lol! the one time im glad of the freebie papers :)

Ah yes, some of mine is covered with the Sutton Observer (with chippings on top) and I'm finding that it is indeed of formidable quality  at least in terms of weed stopping, if not journalism!

I'm of the hands and knees persuasion......... and sometimes it works on the couch.....  :-X

Yep, that was me yesterday, attacking every strand with my Swiss Army Knife, trying to burrow down after it and remove intact.  I've a suspicion that doing this, up and down the rows, hardens the ground between the potato ridges and thus deters vagrant weeds from settling in.
-
thanks for the help everyone

[Gazfoz]

Has anyone tried the triple concentrate root and stump. That may be worth a try :)

[Suzanne]

I think you are in for the long haul on this. My first plot had lots of couch grass and mares tail. I dig out all I can see when harvesting crops - but still get some grow back during the season and the next year. However it does seem to be getting less and less as the years go by.

[Melbourne12]

Roundup (or any glyphosate weedkiller) WILL kill couch grass.  I have recently killed an area where we are going to put a new raised bed.  I gave it two applications, a week apart, and there's no sign of it regrowing.  The mat of roots is still there, but dead.

What I'm going to suggest is to cut a length of drainpipe or similar, or even to cut the top and bottom off a 1.5 litre lemonade bottle, to use as a shield.

Prepare the Roundup in a small sprayer kept for the purpose.  One of those cheapie half litre sprayguns sold in supermarkets will do fine.

Seek out a newly sprouted blade of couch grass, and put your piece of pipe over it. Give it a squirt of glyphosate, making sure that you keep the spray within the pipe so that it can't drift onto your vegetable plants.

Resist the temptation to pull up the treated weeds.  The chemical is absorbed through the leaves and transferred down to the roots.  They will eventually go brown and die.

Much quicker than painting the leaves with weedkiller.

[peasmad]

For the real organic approach, My old Grancha swore that TURNIPS kill couch grass. sow in small blocks and let them do the work for you, then eat the champs.

[amphibian]

For the real organic approach, My old Grancha swore that TURNIPS kill couch grass. sow in small blocks and let them do the work for you, then eat the champs.

My old plot was pure couch (my new one is pure bindweed), I tried the turnip thing, it did slow regrowth though not eliminate it. I found Ciama di rapa to be far more successful and it grows very quickly meaning you get coverage quickly.

However, all this aside, couch is a nightmare and the only thing that really works is to dig it out or tackle it through repeated rotovation.