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#1
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Border full of couch grass!
I dug a border out a few years ago and thought I'd got rid of all of
the weeds, planted it up and the first year it was fine. The following year it became clear that I hadn't got rid of everything and that couch grass was coming though. I managed to keep partly on top of it the next year but last Summer I was quite ill and couldn't do any gardening at all. Sadly this means that the couch grass has now pretty much taken over in some areas (those that I dug out the last - I must have been getting too impatient to get all the little rooty bits out!) It's growing up right through some of my beloved plants (mostly perennials with a few shrubs, clematis and a couple of roses) while a few seem to hae been smothered and haven't reappeared at all this year. I can't see any solution but dig them out, clean off the roots, pot them up temporaily, use weed killer on the border and replant, possibly laying some weed control fabric over the whole area too. I know this probably isn't the ideal time of year to be doing this, but I'm really only a June-August gardener as I'm a teacher and can't find the time for big jobs like this at any other time of year, OH isn't interested in gardening so it's all up to me. I admit to being quite daunted by the whole thing, to be honest. Any tips for the following would be hugely appreciated: 1. successfuly removing the twitch 2. what chemicals to use (we have cats) 3. whether more than one treatment would be necessary 4. advisability of weed control fabric to help prevent recurrence 5. care of existing plants while digging up, potting and replanting 6. anything else I've overlooked! Very many thanks in advance, scorpy "You'll never get me up in one of those!" said the caterpillar to the butterfly ~ Timothy Leary |
#2
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Border full of couch grass!
"scorpy66" wrote in message ... I dug a border out a few years ago and thought I'd got rid of all of the weeds, planted it up and the first year it was fine. The following year it became clear that I hadn't got rid of everything and that couch grass was coming though. I managed to keep partly on top of it the next year but last Summer I was quite ill and couldn't do any gardening at all. Sadly this means that the couch grass has now pretty much taken over in some areas (those that I dug out the last - I must have been getting too impatient to get all the little rooty bits out!) It's growing up right through some of my beloved plants (mostly perennials with a few shrubs, clematis and a couple of roses) while a few seem to hae been smothered and haven't reappeared at all this year. I can't see any solution but dig them out, clean off the roots, pot them up temporaily, use weed killer on the border and replant, possibly laying some weed control fabric over the whole area too. I know this probably isn't the ideal time of year to be doing this, but I'm really only a June-August gardener as I'm a teacher and can't find the time for big jobs like this at any other time of year, OH isn't interested in gardening so it's all up to me. I admit to being quite daunted by the whole thing, to be honest. Any tips for the following would be hugely appreciated: 1. successfuly removing the twitch 2. what chemicals to use (we have cats) 3. whether more than one treatment would be necessary 4. advisability of weed control fabric to help prevent recurrence 5. care of existing plants while digging up, potting and replanting 6. anything else I've overlooked! Very many thanks in advance, scorpy "You'll never get me up in one of those!" said the caterpillar to the butterfly ~ Timothy Leary RoundUp will see to the couch - should not harm cats |
#3
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Border full of couch grass!
scorpy66 wrote: [...] Any tips for the following would be hugely appreciated: 1. successfuly removing the twitch 2. what chemicals to use (we have cats) 3. whether more than one treatment would be necessary 4. advisability of weed control fabric to help prevent recurrence 5. care of existing plants while digging up, potting and replanting 6. anything else I've overlooked! What they said. On (4) above, forget it. Couch spreads sideways, and will just pop out at the edges and all the holes you make for your plants. The stuff has its uses, but it doesn't replace gardening operations -- in fact it can hinder them. Use Roundup, and when you're sure it's all gone, use a conventional mulch as Janet suggests. You'll still have to walk round every weekend to nip out any weeds that appear, but it shouldn't be too much trouble if you've prepared properly: you should be able to do it while Him Indoors does the hoovering. -- Mike. |
#4
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Border full of couch grass!
On 4 Jun 2006 11:59:54 -0700, "Mike Lyle"
wrote: scorpy66 wrote: [...] Any tips for the following would be hugely appreciated: 1. successfuly removing the twitch 2. what chemicals to use (we have cats) 3. whether more than one treatment would be necessary 4. advisability of weed control fabric to help prevent recurrence 5. care of existing plants while digging up, potting and replanting 6. anything else I've overlooked! What they said. On (4) above, forget it. Couch spreads sideways, and will just pop out at the edges and all the holes you make for your plants. The stuff has its uses, but it doesn't replace gardening operations -- in fact it can hinder them. Use Roundup, and when you're sure it's all gone, use a conventional mulch as Janet suggests. You'll still have to walk round every weekend to nip out any weeds that appear, but it shouldn't be too much trouble if you've prepared properly: you should be able to do it while Him Indoors does the hoovering. Cheers Mike, I've never tried the weed control fabric and, given that two of the main problem areas are along the edges where there's fence or a wall, from what you say I can see that it wouldn't help there anyway. Off to buy some RoundUp.... scorpy "You'll never get me up in one of those!" said the caterpillar to the butterfly ~ Timothy Leary |
#5
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Hi! scorpy. Why not try out the RHS for best advice.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...asscontrol.asp Round-up is very powerful stuff, do be careful. Trouble is it's not very clever, - can't tell a weed from your treasured perennials. And of course at half strength it will be only half as effective, so you will have to do it twice as many times. ( Of course you could try potato pealings, not kidding, it does work, - just depends on how many years you want to wait to see the result. And just how many you can eat!!!. All the very best of luck with your endevours Heath
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