Ok, this is driving me nuts, first of all it's gone from this on 3 May...
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l274/posiepain/lottiemay001.jpg)
to this today
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l274/posiepain/lottiemay003.jpg)
but my big question....what would you do with these bits in betweent the fruit bushes. It's banked slightly and is just a big unsightly mess that's causing me a huge headache, because as fast as I strim it, it just comes back for more. Getting a little disheartened now. :(
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l274/posiepain/lottiemay004.jpg)
ps anyone got a picture of a carrot seedling so I know what I'm looking for! My lines were anything but straight and with the level of weeds, its hit and miss right now!
That looks like my plot in my first year. The answer is persistence. If you strim regularly, you'll find the faster-growing stuff won't take the strain and dies.
I would spray with glyso but I know its not to everyones taste and each to his own. :)
Work out how much of it you will be able to deal with this year and invest in some black plastic for the rest.
I'm afraid you'll have to get used to the unslightly side of it - it takes a few years to get it all how you pictured it in your mind's eye!
Mini
See my problem mini is that I like a place for everything and everything in its place lol - OCD is not a good condition to have when you have an allotment I can tell you - weeds are damned inconsiderate and will NOT keep themselves tidy! ;D
I can sympathise- I'm in my third year and the couch doesn't seem to be getting any less persistent.I admit I don't spend enough time down there but evn so it is very disiriting. One thing I would say is, when you have cleared a patch (i.e.when you think you've got the roots out, though you probably haven't got them all!), cover it straight away, with plastic,mulch or whatever you can get your hands on (I use spent hops a lot) until you are ready to plant it up. I used green manure for the first time this winter and that was quite successful too.
OCD and crop rotation could be an interesting combination :)
Spray it and cover what you feel you can't use. The weeds don't really care if you stay or lose your plot, so get rid of them otherwise the only person who is going to be disappointed is you if you lose your plot through lack of apparent work.
Well I don't think anyone could ever accuse me of not doing any work on it! You can hear me swearing on a regular basis lol - but I take your point Ant, I think I'm going to have to grit my teeth and use spray because strimming alone just isn't keeping up with it. Not to mention that using a rechargeable strimmer only gives me 20 mins of battery power at the mo, not in a position to buy/hire petrol one unfortunately. I think once I've cleared, I may put some nasturtium in there and some marigold, want something nice to look at that'll spread quite quickly. Any suggestions?
I didn't mean it to sound like you weren't working hard, hence the 'apparent work' comment :)
Bite the bullet, spray it, get it covered and get an area you know you can manage worked on and planted up. Once thats done you can start tackling the covered stuff a bit at a time.
Look at it from your committees point of view. If it is obvious you have made progress, you will be fine. Have you recieved a letter at all telling you to get it sorted? Your committee will be far happier seeing part of a plot covered in plastic than weeds.
Three suggestions Posie.
The first one, get rid of the two chairs at the top of the garden LOL
Second One. Strim the grass down to at least 1" and and rake of the cuttings, glysinate then repeat 21 days later Then turn it over removing all the roots as you go, but this only applies if you believe what it says on the bottle
Kills weeds right down to the roots. I have never come across anything that kills Couch grass.
Third Suggestion. Work in blocks, set yourself your task of one block of say 6ft by 4ft and dig it over removing all the roots you can, then go over it again removing more roots. then dig a 6" trench around the block again removing all the roots as Couch grass is rarely more than inches deep this should stop the grass spreading back into the block you have dug.
Don,t compost the roots or grass you have removed, but put it onto a polythene or tin sheet and burn it later.
When the first block is done start on your next one, but keep inspecting the previous block removing any grass that come up.
Now for the advice, don't sicken yourself doing it, if you are getting peed off walk away and do another job then come back to it.
With a bit of effort and 1 hour a day you could have that plot done in a few months.
Posie
Are you digging with a fork or spade? I ask because being a 'girl' I thought a proper digging spade would be too heavy for me and so faffed about with a fork, consequently missing lots of roots (Horsetail in my case).
then I read Eristic's piece on digging, got myself a proper spade and amazed myself at how much ground I could cover - I prefer to dig in blocks rather than long rows - tricks the mind and muscles ;)
Quote from: Ant on May 08, 2008, 18:40:22
I didn't mean it to sound like you weren't working hard, hence the 'apparent work' comment :)
No I know you didn't Ant. No letters from anyone, its clear that there's ongoing work on there. I think I'm just frustrated because I can't get up there even for an hour a day at the moment because of essay deadlines and exam revision and naturally its prime time growing season so every weed and its mother have decided to kick back and enjoy the sunshine on my plot! lol
Davyw1 - lol@ chairs comment - however they are firmly entrenched into the soil and so will remain a "feature" of my plot rofl
SMP - I try and dig with both when I can, I do prefer a fork but can use a spade when I need to. I also use one of those garden claws with a long handle which I find quite helpful in bringing up the weeds with the roots intact.
I just need more time, I'm being impatient because come the end of next week I'll be pretty much done in Uni, but as always I want everything done NOW!!!
So am I best planting pretties in those gaps or does anyone have any crop suggestions?
Thats a bad case of black grass!! i would persivere for this year then around october/november with the last few nice days we get spray with an overdose of round-up mix ratio of 3lts /12 litres of water.
i know round up is expensive but there is another chemical does the same job if not better is what we get for the farm its called clinic ace at around £22.00 +vat for a 5ltr can.
once sprayed you should see it die off after around 10/14days at 20 days should be completely dead if it rains 2/3 hours after application you will need to spray again on the nxt dry day.
but looking at the problem you have you may need to spray for a 3rd time in the spring as soon as you notice it taking over.
once dead i would then dig out as much as you can then rotovate as deep as you can to burry it black grass roots dont like it too deep.
good luck ;D
Doing one area at a time is the best way, it really does make you feel like you've achieved something once an area is properly clear.
Repeated strimming with a petrol strimmer is a good way, to be honest the rechargeable battery ones don't do the job - I did try one for a while but decided it was taking up more time than digging, because its got no real power. Got a proper petrol one now and the difference is vast.
Strimming on it's own won't kill the couch though, you still have to dig up the roots if you want to kill it by cultivation. Not sure about the roots only going down a few inches - here, north of London in heavy clay I've dug them out at 18", it's backbreaking. There seems to be 2 sorts of grass people call couch or twitch ;D or maybe in sandier, lighter soil it doesn't penetrate so deep.
Glyphosate based weedkillers like Round-up applied at the correct time (when grass is actively growing) at the the correct strength (read the bottle carefully) and when no rain is forecast, will work, and will break the back of the problem. The rain bit is important, it's a complete waste of time and money to apply the stuff if it's going to get washed off by rain straight away.
But if you haven't got a decent strimmer, and don't have a lot of time at the moment to cultivate all the soil, in your situation I would cover over what you can't cultivate. If you can afford it, get some heavy duty woven black weed suppressant, not the bonded fabric type, and peg that down for at least a year. It'll seriously weakenmif not kill the couch.
A cheap way of covering - try large sheets of cardboard which you can get free by asking your local stores for large cardboard boxes and opening them out (weigh them down with clods of soil). Doesn't look pretty but better than letting the couch win. I don't like carpet at all, but some folks use this - it is a big problem to get rid of carpet when you've finished with it and makes an awful mess if tangled up in rotavator blades.
If you cover most of the area, you can concentrate on doing one small area really well, and that does make you feel satisfied.
If the roots are going down that deep the chances are someone's dug them in down there; I did that my first year, and had a dreadful job getting it out again.
Well, having given it some serious thought, I regret I'm going to go down the round up route. I don't plan to put any crops in those spaces between the bushes and I'm not a mad fanatic about being organic, although I won't use any pesticides on the crops and that is one rule I won't break. So I'm going to wait for a good calm day with no wind (as its close to my neighbours plot) strim it and spray it, see if I can at least weaken it if I can't kill it outright.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I've also covered half of it up with some black fabric to weaken it a little.
No no dont strim!! let the leaves grow so when you spray the grass leaves will absorb the chemical a lot better & give a quicker & better result, trust me im a farmer boy.
The clinic ace is available from central wool growers (cwg) if you have one near ;D
Ok, ok, I won't strim! rofl ;D thanks for the warning.