[smellykipper]

is it possible to use weed killer in january or am i better off waiting ? have the grass that creeps along the top of the soil .

Thankyou

[DD.]

You'd be far better off waiting until it starts actively growing.

[smellykipper]

ok thankyou, looks a bit of a mess at the moment, will have to tidy up the shed and make a compost heap

[DD.]

You could always dig it out!

[smellykipper]

its being ploughed in march, so do i need to do anything ?

[Baldy]

If its couch grass (twitch grass) then ploughing it up might well cause more problems than it solves. Most likely you'd find that the plouging has broken up the roots and each little bit of root is going to be viable. The more you can dig out before ploughing the better (IMHO)

Pip pip,
Balders

[Goosegirl]

I agree with Barley. Apart from couch grass, there are others that creep on top of the soil which have fibrous roots which, if not dug out or sprayed, will also break up into many more bits. Personally, I would delay ploughing until you get a "warmish" spell when it starts growing a bit more, spray and leave until it is dying off, then plough.

[ghost61]

Everyone who ploughs in couch grass lives to regret it.  Using weedkiller is fine, but then the dead roots form a thick mat underneath and so digging, even post weedkiller having its effect, is really the best solution.  I always worry that even weedkiller will still result in some small bit of root surviving and then it will grow like crazy again.

I inherited a plot that was covered in couch grass and dock and the only way to keep them both to a minimum is weedkiller and then dig them out.  I still get seedlings of dock coming through but the couch grass is completely under control.

[sunshineband]

and digging keeps you nice and warm, smellykipper   

[mjg000]

What would happen to the couch grass if you covered it in heavy duty fabric and left it - would the roots at least be more visible even if they didn't die off?

[ghost61]

Trouble is that the roots run for many feet.  Also I have never been able to cover soil long enough to kill pernicious weeds off.  Think it needs many years to do so!

[smellykipper]

this plot i was given has always been ploughed in march 30+yrs its just the way he did it, i was given the plot as its all getting to much for the chap whos now in his 80s and still has 5 plots  he ploughs it deep then rakes out what he can see and to be honest its work pretty well.

[Baldy]

If its ploughed annually then the grass probably hasn't had enough time to really establish itself - so it might well work.
Most of my experience is of taking on neglected plots that have more than a few years of weed growth. If you are simply carrying on with a technique that has worked on that site for years then its likely going to work again. 

What would happen to the couch grass if you covered it in heavy duty fabric and left it - would the roots at least be more visible even if they didn't die off?

- I found that covering the couch 'knocked it back' (a bit) and also made it easier to separate the soil from the roots of the weed when I came to clear it. Worth doing in my opinion.

Pip pip,
Balders