raised beds on top of couch grass?

[buttercup]

hello there!
spent the last couple of days trying to dig out tons of couch grass ready to make raised beds.
we have had a good go at it but we dont have much time untill we hire a rotovator in a couple of weeks!

what im wondering is, if we can remove the majority of it could we put down some sort of membrane under the raisedbeds to stop them growing through?
i know that every tiny little piece may grow back once the rotovator goes anywhere near it, but we are realy pushed for time as i only have one day off a week and my family are bringing up the rotovator on the 17th!
we have already decided that we wont be able to do a large section of the plot, so we will concentrate on the rest once the beds are up and we've planted o few bits!
could i use black plasic with drainage holes or cardboard to line the bottom?
any advice is greatly appreciated
cheers buttercup

[*Feather*]

I have an infestation of bindweed in my plot which I only took on about 18 months ago. The previous owner used to rotavate it and he left me with the horrible task of clearing every single bit of root by hand. Every little piece of bindweed root, like couch grass, grows into a new plant.

Last season I spent most of the summer literally fighting with the bindweed stopping it from suffocating my crops, and I only managed to work a small section of the plot. This year I am re-digging the same section plus a bit more to make sure that I attack the bindweed properly, and I've finally built some raised beds too! The other half of the allotment will have to wait until I have the first one under control (I'm almost there ).

As you are having raised beds, which will be semi-permanent, I think it will be worth delaying building them and make sure that you clear the plot as thoroughly as possible off roots. Maybe you can concentrate on a small section this year...

Good luck with it!

[buttercup]

aaaaah pooooo!
thought as much! thank you both for your advice!
its a shame but better to do it properly than have the task of sieving through it all again!
the plot was neglegted for many years, the council strimmed it then sprayed it before we got it. we are trying to be organic as much as possible but im getting closer to thinking of getting a second spray!
not what i want but i may only have this plot for a year or two so want to get cracking!
cheers buttercup

[Two_Sheds]

Yep, there really ain't a short cut to getting rid of perennial weeds like this.You really shouldn't plant anything when you still have couch or bindweed, because it is almost impossible to eradicate once it grows up thru your crops. Its taken me 2 seasons to get all the couch out of my raspberry bed, eventually got it all out without chemicals (the odd one still comes up but it gets short shrift).

[Sue]

Buttercup
Commiserations from a fellow couch grass sufferer. My plot was in an awful state and I've just uncovered a pile of carpet with couch grass roots penetrating through 5 layers of it!
Sifting is best although horribly time consuming and if you don't use chemicals is slow work but you get there in the end.
And although you can get it out of the plot, if like me you're surrounded by grass paths to the edges of the allotment it grows out from there but I find keeping the earth friable to either side means you can regularily grub round and tease the roots out of the soil where they've gone walkabout nto my allotment.
And as for bindweed, one patch I covered up with cardboard and compost, when it was unveiled the bindweed roots were like lacework all over the surface of the earth, I got rid of as much as possible but I know it's going to come back and haunt me...
Sue