[digger123]

Hi Foks,

I've just taken on a new 10 rod plot. It has been pretty much neglected and is covered in couch grass. I need to clear it and just wondered if I roughly dig it up into chunks will the frost kill the couch grass roots over winter?

Or is there a better way to clear this - I don't really want to go down the chemical route...


Cheers,
digger123

[Salmo]

Great shame but frost will not kill your couch grass.

Unless you intend to keep it covered for at least a year ignore all the advice you get about old carpet and black plastic sheet.

The only way forward is to dig all the couch roots out and remove them. When they are dry they burn.

It really depends on whether your soil is heavy or light.

If you have heavy soil my advice would be to dig it with a spade and leave it until the Spring when the soil will have weathered a little. Then dig it carefully with a fork and shake out every bit of couch. Do not hurry to plant before it is clean. The exception is if you plant potatoes you get a second chance at couch removal when you lift them.

If you are lucky enough to have light soil then start with a fork and clean it as you go.

[Yabba]

I have zero idea if this works or not, but you might like to take henry's advice about turnips

¥

[Beetroot queen]

Ours is covered in the same

we have dug a large strip but at the moment it is so wet its hard work  :shock:

[lobot]

Mine too.  At the moment it's near impossible to dig out any roots.  It's so frustrating. :x

Anyone tried the turnip trick?

[woodburner]

I don't like turnips. :?
In spring this year I put down cardboard straight onto rough grass, covered it quite thickly with well rotted manure, and planted potatoes into it. (I used straw to 'earth up' the stems finally covering with soil from elsewhere in the garden, grass clippings would have done as well.)
Some couch and convolvulus (bindweed) did make it through, but was not hard to remove nor was what little was left by harvest time.
Unfortunately the potatoes didn't do as well as they should have on account of pyralid contamination and blight, however, I might try a similar thing next year, with sweetcorn, which won't be affected by pyralid.

[crowndale]

digging is the only effective way to remove the roots unless you like chemicals in which case glypsophate(?) is apparantly the chemical of choice, but you'd need to wait for the spring to do that. I had couch growing through carpet so don't rate it that much. I am lucky to only have about 10'x3' of couch on my plot other than where the paths will run but having planted asparagus this year without getting rid of every bind weed root (thought I had but as my mother used to say, you know what thought did) I am now paying the price!  It really is worth removing every bit of root before planting out and especially where permanent crops are to be planted.

[tallulah]

I have just ordered a couple of tools for just that job, amongst others, from the get-digging website that RichyRich has mentioned in the past.  I have great hopes that these tools will really help me crack the digging and weed problem without taking my back out - a perennial worry for me.  I've ordered an azada and a right-angled fork.  I'll post feedback on how these work for me, when I've got my hands on them!

I should add that the fork is apparently ideal for getting the couch grass out roots and all.

[PAULW]

A fork is the best tool, take out a spit about six inch wide, lift turn and drop forward about two foot from the edge of the trench, tap with the back of the fork and pick out all the roots you can find, I take all my couch,bindweed and other noxious weeds home and put them in the bin, dig like this and next year you will be able to look over your plot with a smug grin knowing what a good job you have done

[pistol]

Hi Foks,

I've just taken on a new 10 rod plot. It has been pretty much neglected and is covered in couch grass. I need to clear it and just wondered if I roughly dig it up into chunks will the frost kill the couch grass roots over winter?

Or is there a better way to clear this - I don't really want to go down the chemical route...


Cheers,
digger123

all i know about couch grass is to clear it with hard work, but i am told if you put it in a water butt it makes good liquid compost

[Trillium]

If you have Bob Flowerdew's  No Work Garden, check page 47. Bob puts his in a special fermenting barrel as it gets smelly. He tops the water surface with some used vegetable oil to cut the smell and keep out mosquitoes. If you add them to your water butt, you risk them plugging the spout holes and/or lines as they degrade and mosquitoes would find the butt a good home base. And never add any diseased weeds (yes, it happens).

[percy thrower's cat]

i found that clearing the top layer of earth with an azada took out quite a lot of the roots out and then weathered it to get the rest out. obviosly i'm left with a large-ish pile of couch grass and earth, but i'll cover that and let time finish the job for me.

[DD.]

Thanks for the post, but the question was posed well over a year ago & the poster has not been to see us for almost as long.

[bigben]

I have also been using an azada to clear mine. I have just taken over a neglected allotment with bad bind weed and couch grass and found I could not just put a fork in and turn the ground over. However using and azada to roughly break it up first seems to make it a lot easier. Sometime I am picking up tufts of roots where there are more roots than soil. I plan to cover some with weed fabric and grow spuds thru holes because it is so slow going. Persevere - it will get easier.

[bigben]

Thanks DD - just spotted the dates - oh well someone else is probably in the same situation. I will appreciate any tips to help with my problems.