[mumofstig]

 

[utigers]

Would covering the area with sheeting, weed suppressant stuff etc... for the next 5 or 6 months help kill this?

[DD.]

No, it's very tenacious and is going to be dormant for most of that period anyway.

[willp]

In my humble experience, one of the positives about couch grass is that it does respond well to chemical treatment.

To clear the worst of my plots, I hacked the stuff down with a slasher and used a watering can to apply glyphosate, carefully marking where I was in order that it was completely covered. I`m not sure about strimming the grass short before spraying - I suspect that the more leaf area is available, the more likely the whole plant is to recive a lethal dose.

Then leave it to die. 

Then when the stragglers come through dose it again.  You`ll also take care of the first flush of new weeds from seeds here.

Then I dug and sowed a dense green manure (mustard) which was dug in and the plot covered until the next spring.

I didn`t dig out all the (should be dead) roots out. I figured that it`s all organic matter and that if I was prepared to do that, I may as well not have bothered with the weedkiller.

It`s not come back apart from the strays from the edges.

As said before, it`s best to attack it in spring when it`s actively growing.

Will

[djbnat]

Couch really needs to be clobbered with Glyphosphate, then dug out, bit by bit...

Could not agree more - I did exactly that and I am very pleased with the result.  The council ploughed in the grass field before declaring them "plots" and handing them out to those on the waiting list, which meant I had to dig it out.  But tackling it a bit at a time was the way to go. Having rotovated it first meant it was fairly loose (and obvious) to dig out.  Glyphosate did the rest for any that re-appeared.  This all occured during May and I have had a fairly successful weed free season.  All that is required now is regular hoeing, which keeps it looking good and gets the weeds before they establish 
regards
DJB