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Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
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) With option two being heavy duty garden control fabric. Something like : (Kenley Garden Landscape Weed Control Fabric Ground Cover - Heavy Duty 100GSM | eBay) Does anyone have any preference over these two options or am I missing something better on the market. |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
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. |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
"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 -- Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella and Lapageria rosea cvs http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
On Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:13:20 +0100, SecondFromLeft
wrote: Does anyone have any preference over these two options or am I missing something better on the market. Old carpet. Try companies that replace carpets. Steve -- Neural Network Software http://www.npsnn.com EasyNN-plus More than just a neural network http://www.easynn.com SwingNN Prediction software http://www.swingnn.com JustNN Just a neural network http://www.justnn.com |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
Good evening
On Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:13:20 +0100, SecondFromLeft wrote: [covering couch-grass] Does anyone have any preference over these two options or am I missing something better on the market. I try something new this year. Having assisted to a crash-course in scything, and being in urgent need of 120m² of free space for a green-house, I cover the future beds with a thick layer (20+cm) of grass-cuttings. In a different spot this has held of most wild plants from invading. The first layer has already been compacted under the recent rain showers and I added more grass. Will report back (“You should never underestimate a good laugher” etc). Couch grass is a big problem this year. See also in this newsgroup my post u and the pictures: http://www.uplawski.eu/div/pierced_potatos/ Michael -- Location: Lower Normandy (Orne), France GnuPG/OpenPGP 4096R/3216CF02 2013-11-15 [expires: 2015-11-15] sub 4096R/2751C550 2013-11-15 [expires: 2015-11-15] |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
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Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
"Charlie Pridham" wrote
"Broadback" wrote , SecondFromLeft wrote: 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 In my experience seen on another allotment site it also lets the Couch Grass through then you have old carpet stuck to the ground with couch and virtually impossible to remove! How long does couch have to be covered to kill it, one whole season or two? Then there is the problem of what chemicals etc are on the old carpet, no way of telling, and do you want them in your soil if you are so nervous about such things. Why not use Glyphosate, IME it is the only sure way to rid your plot of couch grass which is even worse than bindweed for coming up again from any small bit of root left in the soil. One or maybe two applications should kill it completely and you can then dig in the dead weed and know you have a clean plot. Then you can use your whole plot next season and only have to concern yourself about it coming back from the surrounding area. A quick squirt of Glyphosate around the edge once a year will see to that too. Most of us on our site use it to keep our rabbit fences clear of weeds so we can see where the little blighters are trying to dig in. -- Regards. Bob Hobden. Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
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Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
On Wed, 12 Nov 2014 19:32:22 +0000, Janet wrote:
In article , lid says... Carpet is also better as it allows water through Isn't that a bad thing if you are trying to kill couch grass? Doesn't matter. Lack of light kills plants. Actually it's positive, because the trouble with closing off the soil altogether is that the lack of water (and associated oxygenation) causes it to become very heavy over time. -- Gardening in Lower Normandy |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
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 |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
On 12/11/2014 19:55, Emery Davis wrote:
On Wed, 12 Nov 2014 19:32:22 +0000, Janet wrote: In article , lid says... Carpet is also better as it allows water through Isn't that a bad thing if you are trying to kill couch grass? Doesn't matter. Lack of light kills plants. Actually it's positive, because the trouble with closing off the soil altogether is that the lack of water (and associated oxygenation) causes it to become very heavy over time. I thought that the idea of covering the couch grass was to bring the runners to the surface so they can be gathered up without digging, not to kill them, but it's a slow job and I also would be using Round up even though I don't like it for many jobs. This is one place for it. David @ a damp side of Swansea Bay (I should say saturated) |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
On Wed, 12 Nov 2014 20:48:52 +0000, David wrote:
I thought that the idea of covering the couch grass was to bring the runners to the surface so they can be gathered up without digging, not to kill them, but it's a slow job and I also would be using Round up even though I don't like it for many jobs. This is one place for it. D I think the roots will grow into/through almost anything given time. I agree, glyphosate is the best solution for couch grass. -- Gardening in Lower Normandy |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
"Martin" wrote
You can buy a membrane that is opaque, but water permeable. Using this it takes at least a year to kill the couch grass under the cover. You need to kill the couch grass on a strip of land along the edge of the cover first otherwise the couch grass under the edge of the membrane grows outwards towards the light. Use glyphosate while you can, before it is banned. From 1 January 2015 in the Netherlands there will be a ban on the use of glyphosate, except for agriculture. In particular local authorities and private individuals are banned from buying and using it. It was found that glyphosate applied to roads and pavements by local authorities was sometimes being washed down the drains by rain before it had time to break down. That is not a problem with the chemical it's a problem with the use so why ban it, just stipulate where/when it can/can't be used by local authorities (No hard surfaces for example), makes no sense and forces users to resort to much worse and long lasting chemicals. I bet they haven't considered what the alternative is. Sometimes I despair of those in authority. -- Regards. Bob Hobden. Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
On 13/11/2014 09:46, Martin wrote:
On Wed, 12 Nov 2014 18:51:38 -0000, "Bob Hobden" wrote: "Charlie Pridham" wrote "Broadback" wrote , SecondFromLeft wrote: 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 In my experience seen on another allotment site it also lets the Couch Grass through then you have old carpet stuck to the ground with couch and virtually impossible to remove! How long does couch have to be covered to kill it, one whole season or two? Then there is the problem of what chemicals etc are on the old carpet, no way of telling, and do you want them in your soil if you are so nervous about such things. Why not use Glyphosate, IME it is the only sure way to rid your plot of couch grass which is even worse than bindweed for coming up again from any small bit of root left in the soil. One or maybe two applications should kill it completely and you can then dig in the dead weed and know you have a clean plot. Then you can use your whole plot next season and only have to concern yourself about it coming back from the surrounding area. A quick squirt of Glyphosate around the edge once a year will see to that too. Most of us on our site use it to keep our rabbit fences clear of weeds so we can see where the little blighters are trying to dig in. You can buy a membrane that is opaque, but water permeable. Using this it takes at least a year to kill the couch grass under the cover. You need to kill the couch grass on a strip of land along the edge of the cover first otherwise the couch grass under the edge of the membrane grows outwards towards the light. Use glyphosate while you can, before it is banned. From 1 January 2015 in the Netherlands there will be a ban on the use of glyphosate, except for agriculture. In particular local authorities and private individuals are banned from buying and using it. It was found that glyphosate applied to roads and pavements by local authorities was sometimes being washed down the drains by rain before it had time to break down. Even if that is true the LD50 for glyphosate is about the same as that for the caffeine in coffee. The surfactants (aka washing up liquid like compounds) added to the commercial formulations are far nastier. This is an example of the irrational fear of chemicals resulting in a stupid decision when all that is needed is some training of the operatives not to spray when rain is expected and to be selective. -- Regards, Martin Brown |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
"Martin" wrote ...
"Bob Hobden" wrote: "Martin" wrote You can buy a membrane that is opaque, but water permeable. Using this it takes at least a year to kill the couch grass under the cover. You need to kill the couch grass on a strip of land along the edge of the cover first otherwise the couch grass under the edge of the membrane grows outwards towards the light. Use glyphosate while you can, before it is banned. From 1 January 2015 in the Netherlands there will be a ban on the use of glyphosate, except for agriculture. In particular local authorities and private individuals are banned from buying and using it. It was found that glyphosate applied to roads and pavements by local authorities was sometimes being washed down the drains by rain before it had time to break down. That is not a problem with the chemical it's a problem with the use so why ban it, just stipulate where/when it can/can't be used by local authorities (No hard surfaces for example That eliminates its main use by local authorities in the Netherlands. Urban roads are covered in bricks/pave. ), makes no sense and forces users to resort to much worse and long lasting chemicals. I bet they haven't considered what the alternative is. Sometimes I despair of those in authority. The local authority alternative appears to be killing weeds with steam. Dutch local authorities have already stopped using glyphosate. Well I have heard that Japanese Knot weed is edible when cooked! -- Regards. Bob Hobden. Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
On Thu, 13 Nov 2014 13:28:26 -0000, "Bob Hobden"
wrote: Well I have heard that Japanese Knot weed is edible when cooked! The young stems in Spring taste a bit like sour rhubarb but at this time of year they are too chewy for my teeth. Steve -- Neural Network Software http://www.npsnn.com EasyNN-plus More than just a neural network http://www.easynn.com SwingNN Prediction software http://www.swingnn.com JustNN Just a neural network http://www.justnn.com |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
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Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
On 13/11/2014 13:28, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Martin" wrote ... "Bob Hobden" wrote: "Martin" wrote You can buy a membrane that is opaque, but water permeable. Using this it takes at least a year to kill the couch grass under the cover. You need to kill the couch grass on a strip of land along the edge of the cover first otherwise the couch grass under the edge of the membrane grows outwards towards the light. Use glyphosate while you can, before it is banned. From 1 January 2015 in the Netherlands there will be a ban on the use of glyphosate, except for agriculture. In particular local authorities and private individuals are banned from buying and using it. It was found that glyphosate applied to roads and pavements by local authorities was sometimes being washed down the drains by rain before it had time to break down. That is not a problem with the chemical it's a problem with the use so why ban it, just stipulate where/when it can/can't be used by local authorities (No hard surfaces for example That eliminates its main use by local authorities in the Netherlands. Urban roads are covered in bricks/pave. ), makes no sense and forces users to resort to much worse and long lasting chemicals. I bet they haven't considered what the alternative is. Sometimes I despair of those in authority. The local authority alternative appears to be killing weeds with steam. Dutch local authorities have already stopped using glyphosate. Well I have heard that Japanese Knot weed is edible when cooked! The young shoots |
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Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
"Janet" wrote in message t... In article , lid says... Carpet is also better as it allows water through Isn't that a bad thing if you are trying to kill couch grass? Doesn't matter. Lack of light kills plants. Janet. Yes but if you stop the water going into the ground it has to go somewhere and you end up with very wet soggy areas around the edges and dry areas in the middle. as both things will exclude light I was merely pointing out that carpet lets the water through. Either way its going to take at least 6 months 12 would be safer. -- Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella and Lapageria rosea cvs http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
Thank you for this posting.
Although it will be difficult to find animals on sawdust in our region (nor would I probably condone it) the description is very interesting and should lead to a few good ideas. On Thu, 13 Nov 2014 19:49:50 +0100, Bigal wrote: It shouldn't be too difficult to get some sawdust and soak it in liquid manure and leave it over winter as a mulch, and then dig it in as a fertiliser. Sawdust and dung are still available and the sawdust being the only variation in a well-established procedure, I shall give it a try. Unfortunately, our lumber mills begin to understand what they were wasting for too long and took to *selling* sawdust (for money). Who told them... Bye, Michael -- Location: Lower Normandy (Orne), France GnuPG/OpenPGP 4096R/3216CF02 2013-11-15 [expires: 2015-11-15] sub 4096R/2751C550 2013-11-15 [expires: 2015-11-15] |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
On 13/11/2014 13:28, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Martin" wrote ... "Bob Hobden" wrote: "Martin" wrote You can buy a membrane that is opaque, but water permeable. Using this it takes at least a year to kill the couch grass under the cover. You need to kill the couch grass on a strip of land along the edge of the cover first otherwise the couch grass under the edge of the membrane grows outwards towards the light. Use glyphosate while you can, before it is banned. From 1 January 2015 in the Netherlands there will be a ban on the use of glyphosate, except for agriculture. In particular local authorities and private individuals are banned from buying and using it. It was found that glyphosate applied to roads and pavements by local authorities was sometimes being washed down the drains by rain before it had time to break down. That is not a problem with the chemical it's a problem with the use so why ban it, just stipulate where/when it can/can't be used by local authorities (No hard surfaces for example That eliminates its main use by local authorities in the Netherlands. Urban roads are covered in bricks/pave. ), makes no sense and forces users to resort to much worse and long lasting chemicals. I bet they haven't considered what the alternative is. Sometimes I despair of those in authority. The local authority alternative appears to be killing weeds with steam. Dutch local authorities have already stopped using glyphosate. Well I have heard that Japanese Knot weed is edible when cooked! Yes it is, steam like asparagus -- Adventure before dementia. http://www.secondchance-rehoming.co.uk/ |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
On 12/11/2014 18:11, Janet wrote:
In article , says... 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. Consider old wool carpet on a canvas backing. Locally, I can get any amount, delivered free from the carpet company that removes it before fitting new carpets. They are delighted to give it away (and deliver free) because they would otherwise have to deliver it to waste disposal and pay commercial waste rates. Janet. My local authority has banned carpet from allotments.....check your site rules. -- Adventure before dementia. http://www.secondchance-rehoming.co.uk/ |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
"Pete C" wrote
Janet wrote: says... 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. Consider old wool carpet on a canvas backing. Locally, I can get any amount, delivered free from the carpet company that removes it before fitting new carpets. They are delighted to give it away (and deliver free) because they would otherwise have to deliver it to waste disposal and pay commercial waste rates. My local authority has banned carpet from allotments.....check your site rules. See the first part of my reply of the 12th, probably the reason. People cover most of their plot with carpet and try to garden on a small bit, some time down the line they realise they cannot manage the hours of work or get bored and give up. The carpet gets left on the plot until the Council realise the rent hasn't been paid, weeds have grown through it, and the next person that takes on the plot has to try to remove and get rid of smelly old wet partly rotten carpet stuck to the ground with weeds. Seen it too many times. -- Regards. Bob Hobden. Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK |
Couch Grass what should I cover it with?
"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message ... "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 I'm with the carpet option too. Some carpet retailers fit a new carpet and take the old one away as part of the deal. They are only too thrilled to let you have them. Works well. |
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