On 12/11/2014 15:39, Charlie Pridham wrote:

"Broadback" wrote in message
...
On 12/11/2014 13:13, SecondFromLeft wrote:
Hi,

I have recently taken on a large allotment which has a severe case of
couch grass invasion. Could someone please tell me the best thing to
cover the area with whilst I am working on other parts of the
allotment.

If I can help it I do not want to use any weed killers. I have read
covering over is one of the better solutions.

My two thoughts of covers are a think black plastic polythene sheet
Something like : ('HEAVY DUTY BLACK POLYTHENE PLASTIC SHEETING 4M WIDE
DPM ROLLS 300MU 1200 GAUGE | eBay' (http://tinyurl.com/nr4csbh))

With option two being heavy duty garden control fabric. Something like :
('Kenley Garden Landscape Weed Control Fabric Ground Cover - Heavy Duty
100GSM | eBay' (http://tinyurl.com/lewfp78))

Does anyone have any preference over these two options or am I missing
something better on the market.

Depends on you budget. The cheapest option is to go to a carpet
retailer and ask them for a bit of rubbish carpet, then place that
over. The trouble with the black polythene, especially the thin
variety is that winds will soon wreck it.

Carpet is also better as it allows water through

But the OP should be made aware that carpets also contains chemicals
that rainwater will leach out of it. Couch grass will happily grow
through a carpet anyway so you can't win. Glyphosate based weedkiller is
probably the most environmentally friendly way to zap couch grass.

Grass is exquisitely sensitive to glyphosate so it works very well
(although not at this time of year - it has to be growing).

A hit and then when it is tinder dry a flash fire of the dry material
leaves a blackened area where new green growth it easy to spot weed.

Irrational fear of "chemicals" is getting to be a problem.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown