Hi Apicius, I am fairly sure that couch grass is a hardy frost tolerant grass that would not be noticeably effected by temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius. However, it does not seem to be very tolerant of cultivation so turning couch grass infested soil over might reduce it a little. Removing the pieces of rhizome may become more difficult if they are broken up though. As to liming; there is evidence that suggest that couchgrass growth is reduced as the pH decreases. Adding lime to the soil will increase the pH and the growth of couch grass. Sorry Apicius, digging it out seems to be the only effective way of controlling it unless you succumb to the temptation of using chemicals.
Hi I have a tree I think it's a bay leaf tree and it looks like it has some kind of disease the leaf's look like they have lumps on the top side underneath they are brown in sort of little pockets I can't really explain it but I reckon it's diseased or am I wrong, please help. Thank you. Maria
Bay trees planted outside have suffered this spring because plants have produced new growth but this has been severely cut back by the cold easterly wind and frosts of late March and April. I have cut all the brown leaves off the trees. Bay will regenerate from quite severe pruning.
That bread tray/wheelbarrow tip is brilliant, thank you. I got a riddle to get stones out and it's really slow going. I got my allotment late last year and spent months digging out the couch. Great blog, thanks.
Such a good post....lots of information and ideas. My new allotment is entirely smothered in couch and cannot simply be covered as I must cultivate half in the first six months to keep it. So, I've covered one third so I can dig it easier later in time for squashes and corn, I'm copying your trench idea for peas and beans and digging and sieving (best tip ever to use a bread tray and barrow) now for spuds. Thank you,
I remember helping my father and brother attempt to rid a large vegetable garden of couch grass, where we dug and simply turned over the soil, upending the couch rhizomes and then burying them by double-digging. Hard work, not sure whether it worked as all the digging put me off gardening until middle-age caught up with me. As far as blue bin bags go, no they won't work - I successfully propagate cuttings in blue zip-loc bags (only because I ran out of clear bags).
I have a large (and growing) pile of couch grass tops with some roots - made, I hasten to add, before I read your blog. I presume it will be ok to use this material for a bean trench dug in autumn/winter and I guess the best place for it will be at the bottom? I'm checking because burying couch grass roots will feel very risky!
I know how you feel about burying couch grass Roger. I felt like that the first time I did it. If it is just couch and no other rhizomes like bindweed or horse tail then yes I would bury couch grass in the bean trench. I must admit my bean trenches are a little deeper than most but I would be amazed if they regenerated if they are more than a spit down. If you are unsure then dry the couch grass rhizomes out first.
Thanks for the advice posted in your blog Tonythegardner. We're trying to clear our allotment of couch and it's reassuring to see that chemical free methods do work.
Oh yes organic methods work and I would avoid using any artificial chemical including glyphosate (round up) especially where I am going to grow things that I am going to eat.
A right angled, long handled fork-hoe is real labour saver when tackling couch grass. I cleared about a quarter of an acre by covering in autumn and then using the fork to rip out long lengths of weakened rhizome in the spring. The removed material was set aside to dry, then shaken and hot composted in a massive heap, using my neighbour's grass clippings to get up to 60C quickly.
I found the bread tray tip really useful for the remainder of the job... I sieved through the top 10cm and then waited for regeneration, rather than try to pick out fragments at the point of sieving.
The whole area was mulched with the rough compost produced from the removed mass of couch at the end of the year. I have a largely couch-free plot this spring, awaiting a double-dig.
my new allotment was covered in weeds of all varieties and mare's tail and couch grass predominated. i heard that couch grass will not bridge an air gap, and doesn't grow below 10 inches from the surface, and i wanted to prevent contamination from an uncultivated heavily weeded neighbouring allotment. i purchased scaffold planks in 12ft lengths to make raised beds. i dug trenches 2ft wide and 2ft deep, making islands 12ft by 4ft walled in by scaffold planks. i put 6 inches of bark chippings in the trenches to make weed free paths. it looked really neat and tidy. i was impressed with myself. the excavated soil from the trenches was thrown on top of the beds and painstakingly sieved with a garden sieve to leave a fine rhizome free tilth. these beds were then covered in weed suppression fabric and left for 12 months while the rest of the small allotment was tidied up. the beds were then uncovered and fertilised, and various things were lovingly planted. i then went overseas on a four-month contract and on my return all planted material was gone and the whole allotment was covered in couch grass that was over 4ft tall. impenetrable. even the paths. i can only surmise that either rhizomes can bridge an air gap or a vast quantity of seeds had drifted over from the next plot. should i sythe this down to ground level and compost the cuttings and then cultivate the soil to drag out the rhizomes and dry them? would it be beneficial to drown the cuttings and rhizomes for a couple of months before composting? are there any biological controls i could use such as nematodes or cider vinegar to weaken the growth? i have 6 beds in all. i'm at my wit's end! any advice would be gratefully received. should i resort to glyphosate? i can't burn the top growth as fires are prohibited, and anyway it would need a military flamethrower to make any headway.
Hi Alec, Sorry to hear about your difficulties. If I were you and I had limited time to turn the situation round I would sythe or strim it down to ground level and compost the tops. Then I would cover the beds with black plastic sheets, tarpaulin or some other opaque material. If I had time I would cover the sheets with woody shreddings to make sure that the light could not get to the surface of the soil. To make sure that there is no regeneration of couch, I would leave the covers on for at least six months if not a year. Nothing will germinate under the covers. With the greatest respect you cannot leave a garden for four weeks and expect to come back to a reasonably clean allotment unless you prepare for it extremely well. All exposed soil needs to be covered thickly in mulch and opaque sheets particularly between the rows of vegetables. Even then, I would expect a lot of weed regeneration because it was a new allotment and fallow before you got it. To keep an allotment like this fairly clear of weeds you need to maintain it at least once a week for a couple of hours. Continual cultivation is the only sure way of keeping the beds clean of weeds.
The real answer to couch Is a cornish shovel and an endless supply of energy and sufficient determination and grit to overcome the the opposition ,Oh and the eyesight of an Andean Condor Dig once and produce a fine tilth then leave for 5-8 days be ever vigilant and remember one tiny grassy strand poking out from your fine tilth , Indicates the presence of the enemy , a gentle probing approach is now required to ensure total removal of the alien. Bi weekly hoeing with a hand rotavator and then followed by raking with a wide fine rake will reveal small pieces of the alien repens beast, at some point re -dig the area just to be sure bi-weekly rotovating and raking every inch of soil will need to be continued for a considerable period of time . But once done you will be able to look back with pride at a job well done .Every inch of your plot needs to be treated this way . I personally recommend the Wolf-Garten hand rotavator and wide headed rake and have found that i can rotavate and rake my allotment plot in less than 90 minutes but a little hand hoeing around the edges is beneficial and extra vigilance is necessary around the edges as the paths are grass including couch . The only other way to overcome this pernicious pesky weed is to nuke it years ago i tried glyphosphate on about 4 hectacres of heavily infected land in France , which a friend allowed me to stay on free of charge for a year in return for the clearance of this land . It was total dead loss, and an expensive mistake eventually i adopted a more strategic approach of removal by muscle where necessary and mowing on the remainder of his land everything dug out of the soil went into long abandoned silage pits . sadly i have not had the oppurtunity to return to Brittany to see how the project has progressed as the accompanying house has now become my friends primary residence . during my stay i cultivated a small plot to supply myself with veg and salad crops the fertility of the soil was amazing perhaps due to the couch grass . By the bye the damned stuff is edible but excessive usage can cause potassium shortage ( i have not tried it yet !! .
Methinks that you have had your war with couch and that you have won Waddy. I am glad that you found what I did - that glyphosate is not worth it. All the best Tony
On my heavily infested plot I skimmed all the top growth off and then rotivated the soil. I only cleared the lines of planting of the rhizomes. As couch grass pops its leaves up between the planting I hoe them down. I have to do this about twice a week. As neigbouring plots are heavily contaminated I see little point in trying to completely eliminate it. I do make sure that my hoe is sharpened like a razor.
But how do I exterminate the couch grass? as in murdering it forever. I have nothing to do with allotment, it's just weed for me. I live in a vegas-like desert, but this thing grows around wet areas, like under the sidewaks because of the city plumbing.
I have recently acquired a half allotment near my home in Lancashire, it is infested with couch grass. I have found these comments really useful. I have the idea to use a one ton digger to skin off the top 150mm of soil and weed grown. Bury all this is a pit 500 deep. Then cover with plastic for a year. This will reveal slightly heavier (lower down) soil but I can import 10 ton loads soil to improve this as needed. (I am a landscaper by trade...and find this things easy. (Although I feel somewhat of a 'cheat' using these methods. Any comments/ advice please ? (This is a great site ...thank you !)
I have been told that you can drown couch by submerging it in water for 2 weeks... smelly but the water makes good fertiliser and the roots and grass can then be composted safely.
But what exactly do yo do when you have tons of weed mixed up in a nice otherwise lawn?You can't cover it with black plastic cause' you'll kill the grass too. You can't spray Round up or Foxtrot because of the same, lawn will be destroyed. You can't dig them one by one because I think I have tens of thousands now and by the time I take one out another ten will grow back. Anyone heard of Scott's weed control for lwns?
Great information. As well as couch grass I have creeping buttercup, docks and nettles. I cut, dig and mulch depending where they are. A successful way of killing the plants while keeping the nutrients is to put them in an old wheelie bin and cover with water. I keep adding to it. Everything, including the seeds, rots down. For roots like docks and thistles I fill black bags inside hen food bags, anything that keeps out light, fold them over and leave in a corner in the sun. I can add to them over the summer. Next spring I have compost without viable roots that might regrow. My biggest headache is creeping buttercup which is even more invasive than the couch grass. Any suggestions?
Removing cough grass can be tough. Good thing you managed it well. Thanks to these must-dos you shared.
ReplyDeleteThese are not must dos. It is just the way that I do it. You copy me at your own risk.
ReplyDeleteTony :-)
Any advantage in upending and exposing to heavy frost? Or liming?
ReplyDeleteHi Apicius, I am fairly sure that couch grass is a hardy frost tolerant grass that would not be noticeably effected by temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius. However, it does not seem to be very tolerant of cultivation so turning couch grass infested soil over might reduce it a little. Removing the pieces of rhizome may become more difficult if they are broken up though.
ReplyDeleteAs to liming; there is evidence that suggest that couchgrass growth is reduced as the pH decreases. Adding lime to the soil will increase the pH and the growth of couch grass.
Sorry Apicius, digging it out seems to be the only effective way of controlling it unless you succumb to the temptation of using chemicals.
That is good technique my friend.
ReplyDeletelight clips
Hi I have a tree I think it's a bay leaf tree and it looks like it has some kind of disease the leaf's look like they have lumps on the top side underneath they are brown in sort of little pockets I can't really explain it but I reckon it's diseased or am I wrong, please help. Thank you. Maria
ReplyDeleteBay trees planted outside have suffered this spring because plants have produced new growth but this has been severely cut back by the cold easterly wind and frosts of late March and April. I have cut all the brown leaves off the trees. Bay will regenerate from quite severe pruning.
ReplyDeleteThat bread tray/wheelbarrow tip is brilliant, thank you. I got a riddle to get stones out and it's really slow going. I got my allotment late last year and spent months digging out the couch. Great blog, thanks.
ReplyDeletethanks for comming to my blog
ReplyDeleteSuch a good post....lots of information and ideas. My new allotment is entirely smothered in couch and cannot simply be covered as I must cultivate half in the first six months to keep it. So, I've covered one third so I can dig it easier later in time for squashes and corn, I'm copying your trench idea for peas and beans and digging and sieving (best tip ever to use a bread tray and barrow) now for spuds.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
I remember helping my father and brother attempt to rid a large vegetable garden of couch grass, where we dug and simply turned over the soil, upending the couch rhizomes and then burying them by double-digging. Hard work, not sure whether it worked as all the digging put me off gardening until middle-age caught up with me. As far as blue bin bags go, no they won't work - I successfully propagate cuttings in blue zip-loc bags (only because I ran out of clear bags).
ReplyDeleteI have a large (and growing) pile of couch grass tops with some roots - made, I hasten to add, before I read your blog. I presume it will be ok to use this material for a bean trench dug in autumn/winter and I guess the best place for it will be at the bottom? I'm checking because burying couch grass roots will feel very risky!
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel about burying couch grass Roger. I felt like that the first time I did it. If it is just couch and no other rhizomes like bindweed or horse tail then yes I would bury couch grass in the bean trench. I must admit my bean trenches are a little deeper than most but I would be amazed if they regenerated if they are more than a spit down. If you are unsure then dry the couch grass rhizomes out first.
DeleteThanks for the advice posted in your blog Tonythegardner. We're trying to clear our allotment of couch and it's reassuring to see that chemical free methods do work.
ReplyDeleteOh yes organic methods work and I would avoid using any artificial chemical including glyphosate (round up) especially where I am going to grow things that I am going to eat.
ReplyDeleteA right angled, long handled fork-hoe is real labour saver when tackling couch grass. I cleared about a quarter of an acre by covering in autumn and then using the fork to rip out long lengths of weakened rhizome in the spring. The removed material was set aside to dry, then shaken and hot composted in a massive heap, using my neighbour's grass clippings to get up to 60C quickly.
ReplyDeleteI found the bread tray tip really useful for the remainder of the job... I sieved through the top 10cm and then waited for regeneration, rather than try to pick out fragments at the point of sieving.
The whole area was mulched with the rough compost produced from the removed mass of couch at the end of the year. I have a largely couch-free plot this spring, awaiting a double-dig.
Thanks for the tips!
Interesting and valuable information which have share here well done.
ReplyDeletekunstgras kopen
my new allotment was covered in weeds of all varieties and mare's tail and couch grass predominated.
ReplyDeletei heard that couch grass will not bridge an air gap, and doesn't grow below 10 inches from the surface, and i wanted to prevent contamination from an uncultivated heavily weeded neighbouring allotment.
i purchased scaffold planks in 12ft lengths to make raised beds. i dug trenches 2ft wide and 2ft deep, making islands 12ft by 4ft walled in by scaffold planks. i put 6 inches of bark chippings in the trenches to make weed free paths. it looked really neat and tidy. i was impressed with myself.
the excavated soil from the trenches was thrown on top of the beds and painstakingly sieved with a garden sieve to leave a fine rhizome free tilth. these beds were then covered in weed suppression fabric and left for 12 months while the rest of the small allotment was tidied up. the beds were then uncovered and fertilised, and various things were lovingly planted. i then went overseas on a four-month contract and on my return all planted material was gone and the whole allotment was covered in couch grass that was over 4ft tall. impenetrable. even the paths. i can only surmise that either rhizomes can bridge an air gap or a vast quantity of seeds had drifted over from the next plot.
should i sythe this down to ground level and compost the cuttings and then cultivate the soil to drag out the rhizomes and dry them? would it be beneficial to drown the cuttings and rhizomes for a couple of months before composting? are there any biological controls i could use such as nematodes or cider vinegar to weaken the growth?
i have 6 beds in all. i'm at my wit's end! any advice would be gratefully received. should i resort to glyphosate? i can't burn the top growth as fires are prohibited, and anyway it would need a military flamethrower to make any headway.
Hi Alec,
DeleteSorry to hear about your difficulties. If I were you and I had limited time to turn the situation round I would sythe or strim it down to ground level and compost the tops. Then I would cover the beds with black plastic sheets, tarpaulin or some other opaque material. If I had time I would cover the sheets with woody shreddings to make sure that the light could not get to the surface of the soil. To make sure that there is no regeneration of couch, I would leave the covers on for at least six months if not a year. Nothing will germinate under the covers.
With the greatest respect you cannot leave a garden for four weeks and expect to come back to a reasonably clean allotment unless you prepare for it extremely well. All exposed soil needs to be covered thickly in mulch and opaque sheets particularly between the rows of vegetables. Even then, I would expect a lot of weed regeneration because it was a new allotment and fallow before you got it. To keep an allotment like this fairly clear of weeds you need to maintain it at least once a week for a couple of hours. Continual cultivation is the only sure way of keeping the beds clean of weeds.
The real answer to couch Is a cornish shovel and an endless supply of energy and sufficient determination and grit to overcome the the opposition ,Oh and the eyesight of an Andean Condor Dig once and produce a fine tilth then leave for 5-8 days be ever vigilant and remember one tiny grassy strand poking out from your fine tilth , Indicates the presence of the enemy , a gentle probing approach is now required to ensure total removal of the alien. Bi weekly hoeing with a hand rotavator and then followed by raking with a wide fine rake will reveal small pieces of the alien repens beast, at some point re -dig the area just to be sure bi-weekly rotovating and raking every inch of soil will need to be continued for a considerable period of time . But once done you will be able to look back with pride at a job well done .Every inch of your plot needs to be treated this way . I personally recommend the Wolf-Garten hand rotavator and wide headed rake and have found that i can rotavate and rake my allotment plot in less than 90 minutes but a little hand hoeing around the edges is beneficial and extra vigilance is necessary around the edges as the paths are grass including couch . The only other way to overcome this pernicious pesky weed is to nuke it years ago i tried glyphosphate on about 4 hectacres of heavily infected land in France , which a friend allowed me to stay on free of charge for a year in return for the clearance of this land . It was total dead loss, and an expensive mistake eventually i adopted a more strategic approach of removal by muscle where necessary and mowing on the remainder of his land everything dug out of the soil went into long abandoned silage pits . sadly i have not had the oppurtunity to return to Brittany to see how the project has progressed as the accompanying house has now become my friends primary residence . during my stay i cultivated a small plot to supply myself with veg and salad crops the fertility of the soil was amazing perhaps due to the couch grass . By the bye the damned stuff is edible but excessive usage can cause potassium shortage ( i have not tried it yet !! .
ReplyDeleteMethinks that you have had your war with couch and that you have won Waddy. I am glad that you found what I did - that glyphosate is not worth it.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Tony
On my heavily infested plot I skimmed all the top growth off and then rotivated the soil. I only cleared the lines of planting of the rhizomes. As couch grass pops its leaves up between the planting I hoe them down. I have to do this about twice a week. As neigbouring plots are heavily contaminated I see little point in trying to completely eliminate it. I do make sure that my hoe is sharpened like a razor.
ReplyDeleteBut how do I exterminate the couch grass? as in murdering it forever. I have nothing to do with allotment, it's just weed for me. I live in a vegas-like desert, but this thing grows around wet areas, like under the sidewaks because of the city plumbing.
ReplyDeleteI have recently acquired a half allotment near my home in Lancashire, it is infested with couch grass. I have found these comments really useful. I have the idea to use a one ton digger to skin off the top 150mm of soil and weed grown. Bury all this is a pit 500 deep. Then cover with plastic for a year. This will reveal slightly heavier (lower down) soil but I can import 10 ton loads soil to improve this as needed. (I am a landscaper by trade...and find this things easy. (Although I feel somewhat of a 'cheat' using these methods. Any comments/ advice please ? (This is a great site ...thank you !)
ReplyDeleteI wonder why to get the bread tray? I've seen it in the supermarket but never discarded ones.
ReplyDeleteI have been told that you can drown couch by submerging it in water for 2 weeks... smelly but the water makes good fertiliser and the roots and grass can then be composted safely.
ReplyDeleteBut what exactly do yo do when you have tons of weed mixed up in a nice otherwise lawn?You can't cover it with black plastic cause' you'll kill the grass too. You can't spray Round up or Foxtrot because of the same, lawn will be destroyed. You can't dig them one by one because I think I have tens of thousands now and by the time I take one out another ten will grow back. Anyone heard of Scott's weed control for lwns?
ReplyDeleteGreat information. As well as couch grass I have creeping buttercup, docks and nettles. I cut, dig and mulch depending where they are. A successful way of killing the plants while keeping the nutrients is to put them in an old wheelie bin and cover with water. I keep adding to it. Everything, including the seeds, rots down. For roots like docks and thistles I fill black bags inside hen food bags, anything that keeps out light, fold them over and leave in a corner in the sun. I can add to them over the summer. Next spring I have compost without viable roots that might regrow. My biggest headache is creeping buttercup which is even more invasive than the couch grass. Any suggestions?
ReplyDelete