couch grass

[sauzee]

If you leave any small bits couch grass on the top of the ground and it dries out and i presume is dead after a few days or longer If it is submersed in earth again will it regrow

[HayleyB]

I'm totally carp on weeds unless it's plain old grass I aint gotta clue, sooooo what's couch grass look like

[Nes]

Couch grass is the bane of my life at the moment. It has masses of spaghetti like roots which spread through the ground for what seems like miles. It will regrow from broken off sections of just an inch long, so you have to be careful to remove as much of it as possible, and then keep an eye out for missed bits sprouting.

As for whether it will regrow after a few days drying out, it's pretty tough stuff, so I wouldn't rely on it being killed that quickly. Some people recommend burning it and returning the ashes to the soil, while others recommend drowning it by completely submersing it in water fo a few weeks. I've tried both these methods, and have had mixed success - much of my couch was too wet to burn, and the drowning method doesn't seem to have killed it all off (there's a few green shoots growing from stuff which has been submerged since before Christmas), so I'll never be confident enough to put this in my compost heap. So most of it I've carted off to the recycling centre to be made into soil improver in their big hot heaps which should be hot enough to kill it, and replaced the lost nutrients with manure.

Hope this helps.

[rana]

If it is already on the surface collect it, bag it and bin it. It is not worth mucking about with to try and kill it. Do not put it on the compost heap. Couch grass roots are bomb proof and will re-sprout if given a mere sniff of decent growing conditions.

[Two_Sheds]

I have been composting it for years, and it's never regrown in my compost heap - I promise you that.

First it must be drowned or dried out thoroughly. I leave mine to drown for weeks/months in an old plastic bin full of water. Any green stuff still growing gets poked back down under the water.

It stinks as it rots, so I prefer to crisp it in the sunshine for a week until it looks like burnt hair. But you need hot sunshine for that! Moist damp air will keep it alive for a bit longer.

I am against landfill, so I will not bag it and bin it.

[zazen999]

I'm bagging mine and when it is rotted down, it's going onto the heap.

[selfraising]

I hate the stuff. It keeps coming through from next doors 'wildlife' garden along with bramble and bind weed!!! As has been said, its pretty tough stuff and could re-grow so I wouldn't risk it, let it rot down then chuck on the compost

[roadkill]

four years on and im still removing barrow loads of the stuff

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Lazgaot]

Last July/August I tackled my couch grass with Roundup then I strimmed it down dug it all up through the Autumn. It might not be the most organinc of approaches, but I had to get rid of it fast. This got rid of 99% of it pretty quickly. There are a few shoots re-appearing now, but they are easily dug out..

[Matt.]

Last July/August I tackled my couch grass with Roundup then I strimmed it down dug it all up through the Autumn. It might not be the most organinc of approaches, but I had to get rid of it fast. This got rid of 99% of it pretty quickly. There are a few shoots re-appearing now, but they are easily dug out..

Totally agree. Couch is one weed very susceptible to glyphosate weedkiller so it you have a lot of it this will save you a lot of effort.

[sauzee]

I would have tried weed killer in November and i would have less to dig out now but the allotments are organic growing only and strictly no chemicals of any kind allowed

[Two_Sheds]

If you use glyphosate, you need to apply it to good green growth - April onwards. It needs to be absorbed through the leaves.