Couch grass

[mikon_warrior]

Hi there,

In december i had my 500 sqm allotment ploughed as it hadnt been worked for many years and could only get the half a forkes depth. This worked a treat but the dreaded couch grass has started to appear again and is getting tall.

Would rotovating it in again cause more problems? i was going to rotovate it and then cover it over for a few months or so.

Im going to have to have a day weeding because its coming up all around my onions etc (along with lots of tiny pesky weeds)

ta

sarah

[snuffer]

Couch Grass

Hi Mikon, I am assuming that what you and a lot of others on the 'Grapevine' call couch grass or cooch grass is what we in Notts. call twitch.

It really is a pain in the proverbial. I only recently took on my allotment and like many neglected plots it was like a jungle. What I have done is cleared by hand an area that I can plant up. The rest has been treated with Glyphosate to kill the weeds and buy me some time so that I can cultivate these areas at my leisure.

I admit that using chemicals isn't ideal but once the plot is cleared there should be no need to use them again.

Your problem is that if the plot has been rotovated and the weeds are only just coming through you'll have to wait until they are growing strongly before treating them (the glyphosate needs a large leaf area to be at its most effective).

Clear a small section so that you can grow what's most important to you and then clear the rest in stages using chemicals if you think they're needed. Follow any instructions to the letter and be wary of letting the spray drift onto other peoples plots. Using a watering can makes spray drift less likely and allows you to use a more dilute concentration of chemical. I always add red food colourant so that I can see exactly where I am spraying.

Hope this is of some help. Remember enjoy your plot. Growing veg. is our hobby. What we can't do this year we can do the next. Have fun.

[roadkill]

i had a nightmare with my plot and im still fighting the battle , i find that once you have cleared a small bed and get some veg in all seems good and just cover the rest and fight it another day

[Two_Sheds]

We covered our couch grass with a big old piece of carpet last year. This week I took the carpet up, and all the weeds have died, including the roots. It was a simple job and a joy to fork over the soil and get it planted up.