HELP - Couch Grass

[alldigging]

Dig and compost.
Cover small areas as you can to stop it regrowing.

When I took my plot on it needed digging before a rotavator would break the soil, so mostly it got rough dug and then dug over. Everything was composted. I therefore had a huge compost heap which rotted down and got returned.

One lady washed the roots of her couch grass before composting them. That was interesting to see as a technique. It meant the heap needed other stuff to help it rot down well.

[donksey]

My new plot suffers the same problem, I just push in the fork, lever the handle forward. Then bend my knees a little and lift the sod out and shake the soil from the roots.
I won't get every scrap out but I would say I'm getting a good 90%.

[Roysy]

Don't give up

Starting up on a neglected plot is very disheartening and I also went through the same feelings.

I tried rotavating a patch and indeed it was a fruitless task. I got to grips with my plot by covering as much of the plot as I could. I know some allotments don't allow carpets and many seasoned growers frown over their use but I was able to use carpets. I constantly moved the carpets around and turned them over so they did not become tied up with couch grass and bindweed. I even burnt a resistant patch with a burner, (someone on allotment may have one) before covering it.

If you are limited with what you can use to cover the plot, try choosing a small area to cultivate. Dig it up and clear it as best you can and surround it with cardboard or whatever you have been able to acquire for weed suppression. This will provide you with a small crop, (potatoes may be a good idea as it breaks up soil), and use remaining time to try and gradually extend into the plot so you do not take on too much at once. By doing this, you can slowly increase the cultivated area at your own speed and extend the covered area as you slowly acquire more cardboard etc. Leave the outlying areas with their weeds knowing you will eventually have them covered and then cultivated.

Rather than give up, just try to manage a small amount and gradually extend across the plot, think of a 3-5 year plan to complete task and it will become manageable.

I went through so many emotions and only after 3 years am I beginning to feel in some degree of control. (No one will ever be in total control, we are fighting nature!). I still have some uncultivated areas! I am tempted to write a blog on it as I learnt the hard way and had a roller-coaster journey that is still not complete. What I would say is that I am glad I perservered.

[janzbro]

Im in the same boat as you with the couch grass but mine also has tons of stones under it so it is soul destroying as it takes forever to even get a fork prong in without it bouncing off the surface.

It will be a lot of hard work but as others have said make an 8x4 bed and just do a little at a time. Just think how well earned those first crops will be, it will make them taste all the better.

Slowly , slowly, catchy, monkey as they say

I would try strimming it as low as possible,
cover as much as possible in black plastic.
use a fork or even a metal bar, hammered in to prise the earth up to get a start,
once you've make a hole in it approx. 1 spade wide, I would then, rather than digging actually go in horizontally with a spade a few inches down to de-turf it,
take the sods away and make a pile or put on compost (grass side down),
once the turf is off then dig it over, it will be much easier with most of the couch roots in the sod you removed.

Good luck

If it was still growing I would nuke it with Glyphosate 1 X 5L GALLUP 360 VERY STRONG PROFESSIONAL GLYPHOSATE WEEDKILLER | eBay unfortunately we have both missed the effective time to use but theres always spring time

[Aberdeenplotter]

Fatal flaw in the above suggestion is that the couch in the turf will not compost down.Stacking it may well help it dry out so that the couch can be shake out later but I wouldn't be too confident about that.

[alldigging]

Fatal flaw in the above suggestion is that the couch in the turf will not compost down.Stacking it may well help it dry out so that the couch can be shake out later but I wouldn't be too confident about that.

It did for me.It needs covering and I probably stuck lots of grass clippings on the pile - and privet too - so it was a huge heap. But the couch grass is gone now apart from what's crept back in from the path.

[purplekat]

My new allotment was not as bad as yours but I have dug up what I can with a spade, covered with a couple layers of cardboard/full thickness of newspapers and then dumped a load of manure on top. Whilst the manure did make the grass grow, after a few months it works it's way down into the soil and makes it so much easier to dig up. It is just a matter of hacking away at a small patch and then keeping it covered as much as you can. I've managed to fill a tonne bag full of roots so far (no idea what to do with them now though!).

I was told buckwheat (green manure) stops it growing, but I think it may be a bit late in the year for that now.

Good luck and sorry to hear about the shed, you really don't need that on top of all the weeds

[janzbro]

cant see why it wouldnt rot down, as its still vegetable matter, if you exclude light for long enough it will die off then compost or you could also drown it to kill it.

[mothhawk]

There's a lot said about thickly sowing turnips to weaken or kill couch grass
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1111529

Quite a few brassicas, especially the "hot" ones, like radish and turnip and mustard are allelopathic, that is, exude substances from their roots that inhibit or prevent other plants germinating or growing near them, so it might be worth sowing them thickly as a green manure.

[Root66]

I have a question on couch grass, so am hijacking this thread.

Can couch be left on the surface of the ground, would it rot or does it need to be destroyed.
Of course why would i leave it, it's just a hypothetical really, but this question arose when i took up my rhubarb crown and found some couch woven in. I'm leaving the crown on the surface for a while so wondered how the couch would react over the months.

[roitelet]

There is only one thing you can do with couch grass is DESTROY IT!! You need to get every tiny bit out if it will continue to grow. If it is in the crown then if you can get it out or get a new crown it won't die even if left on the surface.