[Suziet8]

My new allotment is covered in grass! As I dig down the white roots are in abundance. What would your advice be for the quickest way to start producing some fruit and veg?  Current I've strimmed the whole (mini) plot and covered two-thirds of it with tarpaulin temporarily. I've started digging the rest, removing the top layer of grass.

[Enfield Glen]

It sounds like you have couch grass which means unless you get out all the roots then the grass will regrow very quickly. If you don't clear it properly now and plant your fruit bushes I think you will regret it next year when you are constantly pulling up 2 foot tall grass. Where you have the grass covered you could cut holes and plant courgettes and squashes. Where it is open grass take you time and give it a good clear out I would also dig a trench between where you have cleared and where you have not to prevent the roots spreading to where you have just cleared. The roots will not rot done so either take them  home for and put in your green bin or if allowed burn them. As you clear out you can sow quick to germinate salad crops.
Do not despair you will get there in the end. My allotment was the same and it took me three years to fully clear it divide the plot up and concentrate on one bit at a time rather than trying to get it all done in one season.

[Mattgregory27]

I agree completely, if you are starting fruit trees make sure you dig out all of the grass roots for quite a large area around the planting hole as it will creep back quite rapidly (Speaking from experience!!!) Couch roots do take a while to get rid of without a weed killer but after 2 years I am getting on top of it now 

[ptarmigan]

It sounds like you have the right idea, don't try and do it all at once.  But from painful experience try and clear as much couch grass as possible before planting fruit trees - and, if I was doing it again, I'd put down heavy duty weed suppressant material and plant through that.   When couch is under control you could cut a wider circle round the tree so you can mulch properly and thickly.

I didn't do that and spend a lot of time clearing round the fruit trees and strimming the grass around them. 

Also, once cleared, think about 'lasagna gardening', thick cardboard and mulch weakens couch too.

After 4 years couch is hardly a problem in the beds and is getting better round the fruit trees.

[Eightball]

Do the roots look like the below picture? They are actually called rhizomes and even a small 1cm piece can regenerate into a whole new plant so as people have suggested take your time and clear it properly. You will of course miss bits in the first pass but any little bits of grass that reemerge you can dig out.

Personally I compost my perennial weeds but I do it separately to my normal compost. I put them in thick black bags with some carbon material (in my case wood chips), water it well and stab a couple of drainage holes in the bottom and then leave it in there for a year or two. The sun well and truly cooks it and i'm left with a mushy mess that can then be added to the main compost heap. You can also drown them in a barrel of water. But again I would probably leave them for a year to be sure they are dead.

Those weeds have taken quite a lot out of the soil so its nice to be able to add it back rather than throwing it away.

[Salmo]

Unless you are against any sort of chemicals the way to deal with heavy couch grass infestations is to use a weed killer containing glyphosate (sold as Roundup and others).

You will need to follow the instructions on the container but these are the rules to get a good kill.

Let the grass grow until there is plenty of green leaf. If the weather is dry this may mean watering to get it going.

Choose a day when it is likely to be dry for 6 hours after spraying. This is important.

The chemical can be applied with a sprayer, but if there is a risk of spray drifting and affecting neighbour use a watering can fitted with a fine rose, or better still a dribble bar (available in garden centres and cheap).

Leave alone for 10 days. By then the centre tips of the grass should be yellowing. The chemical will have penetrated right through the roots and the plants are clinically dead. There is no need to wait until the grass is completely withered before cultivating. You can plant things as soon as you like.

Look for any areas you have missed and spray them. There may also be the odd green shoot coming up. This will be from a root that had not sprouted when you sprayed.

There is no need to dig the roots out as they are clinically dead, but if the infestation is heavy you may wish to do so.

It is however a good idea to disturb the soil as there may be some roots that were dormant and cultivation will wake them up. If they had not got leaves at the time of spraying they will not have been killed.

[Suziet8]

Thanks everyone for their advice

[keeper]

Hi Suzie ,   I inherited a garden like yours and believe if you follow Salmo's advice it will save you much work in the future .

In the garden I have now, we marked of the Veg. plot , this was fairly obvious , as it looked like it had been used for this before and in some areas of this was Nettles among the Couch . Then unusually for me I forced myself to be patient and knocked down the nettles and sprayed these and the Couch areas .I then sprayed the regrowth  and over the next few months , I did this every time the plot greened over , maybe 4 times . Glyphosate,  will actually work at most times of the year although, as the instructions say , works best when plants are actively growing . I have found, except for the dampest and frostiest  periods of the winter, as long as the plant is green, it will eventually work .


You could do this on the majority of the plot and clear a small area by hand to use now , if you cannot wait , but if not you will be fighting it for years among your Veg. 

I appreciate not everyone likes the thought of using chemicals , but since I have done this and got on top of the seed bank that had built up , I can now most of the time get by with hoeing and little or no use of chemical in the Veg. area . Also, if yours is exclusively Couch you may need less treatments than I did.

keeper

[DD.]

I would third Salmo's advice,if you are not against chemicals. It will ultimately save you much time and back-ache!

[snowdrops]

I'm against chemicals as a rule, but with hindsight realise that sometimes you do need to kill the weeds in that way to give you a head start. My daughter has just bought a house with a 180 FT garden that was 10 FT high in brambles, they've been cut down & burnt, then we've waited for fresh re growth & ive sprayed it & the bind weed that's emerged, we're removing the bramble roots by digging them out the rotovating, I will spray what then emerges for this year & rotovate again. She lives on her own works full time is an on call firefighter so needs to go to the gym 3 times a week. She just won't get it under control otherwise. There's only so much garden I can help with. Spraying will really make it so much more manageable for her. I don't want her to become disheartened & give up just when she's feeling like she would like to grow something,might make a gardener out of her yet 

[Suziet8]

An update .... I've sprayed the majority and started digging the rest. I'm covering what I've dug with membrane as I go along and have planted a plastic woven vegetable bag and made a lasagna bed. I'm really just experimenting as the plot is very water logged and I don't want any permanent structures yet. Every muscle in my body is aching but  I'm loving it!

[Yorkie]

Good progress! 

[snowdrops]

That sounds a good start, permanent structures,paths etc can come when you've got a bit more experience under your belt. My shed has been moved a couple of times much to Mr Ss dismay

[Fairy Plotmother]

That's it...slow and easy. Most enjoyable and you always get there in the end. If you take pictures now, when you get cheesed off 'cos nothing seems to be happening, you WILL see the difference.

I wish I could practise what I preach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!