[Missey]

Hi - I've just taken on another half a plot - it wasn't worked last year and a large area is covered in couch grass - I've just literally rough dug it & pulled out what roots I can but basically turned to soil & buried the blades of grass.  The soil was so compacted I just wanted it turned over.  My plan in spring is to dig again and fork out as much as I can.    My question is have I made my problem worse by just bury it and not stripping out the grass - I've just assume it'll die - (I know the roots wont die unfortunately 😂)

Thanks

[WeavingGryphon]

Hi - I've just taken on another half a plot - it wasn't worked last year and a large area is covered in couch grass - I've just literally rough dug it & pulled out what roots I can but basically turned to soil & buried the blades of grass.  The soil was so compacted I just wanted it turned over.  My plan in spring is to dig again and fork out as much as I can.    My question is have I made my problem worse by just bury it and not stripping out the grass - I've just assume it'll die - (I know the roots wont die unfortunately 😂)

Thanks

It's immortal. It will never die.
Is it just the blades of grass? Otherwise it'll come back from the base where the plants meet the ground when upright and keep going. We either left the plants on our plot on the path to shrivel up and die or stuck them in a waterbutt for months to die. Then buried them.

[rowlandwells]

it depends if your a chemical user or not Missey I agree 100% with weavinggryphon I've been there got the tea shirt it takes a lot of hard graft to rid yourself of this by hand because however you dig it out only a very small piece of this couch grass will multiply very quickly

the best thing I've used is roundup when I pulled up my old strawberry patch it looked like a grass field so before I cultivated it back in to the plot I sprayed the area with roundup after three weeks I re-cultivated the area not a blade of couch grass was left clean and tidy or what I've always used roundup to rid us couch grass

no digging it in no forking it out no back bending its the easy option for me but its up to you how you wish to tackle it

[snowdrops]

As I’m now no dig I’ll suggest you look that way up as Charles Dowding advises you can get rid of couch grass by covering with cardboard firstly before covering thickly with well rotted compost/manure. But... I haven’t tried it with couch grass but many recommend that approach

[JayG]

Few plants will survive prolonged burial deep beneath a layer of cardboard and compost, although couch grass may be an exception!

Repeated hoeing will eventually kill most weeds, as will Roundup if applied at the right time, as of course will thorough digging and removal of all roots.

Availability of compost, time available, back strength, attitudes towards herbicides are all factors here, but at the end of the day couch grass is a weed not Arnold Schwarzenegger!

[Growster...]

Roundup everywhere when the soil begins to warm up, then spend an hour per square yard, and dig it all over a spit deep!

It's a brutal point, and sadly no help if you're stuck with the problem, but really, this is the only way to clear the wretched stuff properly - and for good (or nearly)!

The additional issue with couch, is that it will certainly regrow where you want your rasps etc., and that means more work to move everything every few years.

As it's an additional plot, just take it yard by yard, and even try to dig (without Roundup) through the winter, if we ever get a dry day, because it'll save you so much time in the new year.

When you get your result, you'll have beaten the damned stuff at its own game!

[Goosegirl]

Knowing couch grass very well it will have not only invaded your plot but also the outside areas. If you are making beds whether flat or raised you need a barrier on every side to prevent it intruding into your beds. Dig a deep but small trench on all the edges of your veg beds and line the outer edge of the beds with some sort of thick plastic like used compost bags or anything similar you can get your hands on. You may have to fold them to fit but that's a good thing to do. Back-fill the edges with your soil and remove any couch grass roots as you go. I believe the really bad ones only go down a foot but time will tell. At this time of year they aren't growing as fast so Roundup may not be as efficient as a good digging-over. Fork over the first bit of bed then get down on your knees and use a hand fork to "sieve" the soil then just spread it even with your hands and I'll bet they'll be sneaky bits of root you missed! It can be quite satisfying to hand dig and then pull out a rather long piece of white root whose tip suddenly disappears down under from about two foot away and into your weeding bucket. 

[rowlandwells]

the field next to us was sprayed with roundup prior to ploughing the other week they left around two meters round the  edge of the field that has been growing coach grass very well in this wet weather but the rest of the field is clear of couch grass

coach grass down our allotment what couch grass thanks to roundup none and I've no back pain digging out those long white roots that seem endless I'M definitely  in for the no dig no fork as far as couch grass