So I gave up on trying to find the Holster and have instead ordered some Weedol. Same ingredients just a different concentration in the prep. Simples. Oh and the Weedol helpline didn't appear to know they have an entirely new product in a 190ml bottle with completely different ingredients. Not sure that would be helpful in the event of a poisoning...you'd be in a spot of bother.
So it's been a light, gentle rain overnight and the amount of green makes your eyes ache. No plans to do anything at all for the next few days, other than pull the big weeds out and wait some more.
As you can see it's pretty much 30% low weed cover, the weeds are too short to mow but too many of them to allow the grass seeds to have a chance. The areas where there are no weeds or fewer weeds the grass has done astoundingly. Really well and I am pleased with that. Though even in those areas if you peek under the grass there are weeds lurking underneath... The long strands of couch grass continue to be on my mind. They aren't so coarse or unsightly that I have this huge urge to do something about them, but equally they really do stand out head and shoulders above the seeded grass and I wonder if it's not worth giving them a wipe with a Glyphosate cloth and see what they do? Does anyone know if simply coating a few shoots/leaves in a couch grass stem/root will be enough to kill that particular bit of grass? They are currently really easy to identify and there aren't really that many of them, a few hours on a blanket in the sun and they will all get a decent wipe. Good idea bad idea? Waste of time? (I seem to be able to do a LOT of that at the moment.)
Couch grass usually weakens and dies out after mowing the lawn multiple times, thats if it is couch grass. look like you are not to far off a light trim
Couch grass usually weakens and dies out after mowing the lawn multiple times, thats if it is couch grass. look like you are not to far off a light trim
You were the only response to my question about the long grass strands (thank you!) and I’m not sure how I would identify it more accurately, suggestions? It’s a lot longer and easier to pull out an entire shoot.
You suggested I use a normal rotary mower on the very highest setting for the first cut? My cylinder mower is way too heavy I think though I had a suggestion yesterday to roll the lawn with the cylinder a bit to encourage tillering.
Then what do I do next? Cut every few days until it thickens up? I will almost certainly use the Weedol in about a month if the mowing doesn’t do much. But happy to wait and see.
couch grass has a thick white wiry like root what spreads under ground. If your worried kill them off or pull them with the entire root they look like undesirable grass if its couch grass or not, you will probably regret not sorting them out later on .
Just give the grass a very light trim , the grass need the leaf to photosynthesis more leaf more energy going to the roots. Slowly work your way down the cutting height but not to short, its recommend not to cut more than a third of the leaf off , and shorter you cut the grass far more work is involved.
couch grass has a thick white wiry like root what spreads under ground. If your worried kill them off or pull them with the entire root they look like undesirable grass if its couch grass or not, you will probably regret not sorting them out later on .
Just give the grass a very light trim , the grass need the leaf to photosynthesis more leaf more energy going to the roots. Slowly work your way down the cutting height but not to short, its recommend not to cut more than a third of the leaf off , and shorter you cut the grass far more work is involved.
Hi @Perki so I went and pulled one out as carefully as I could. It seems to fit your description pretty accurately. Thick white wiry root it is!
Not sure I can pull it all out, the roots run pretty deep and complex in some areas, it would probably result in me tearing up a lot of the new stuff? About half of them, when I give them a gentle pull, end up breaking off in the ground anyway even when the soil is wet and loose. What are my other options when you say "kill them off"?
The advantage as I see it right now (and I mean in the next 2 days!) is they really are standing out a great deal more than the new grass. They are easily 2-3 times the height so I can seek them out easily enough, they aren't hard to identify or make contact with. But the new grass is growing like crazy and is catching up. Suggestions please!
In one area they are quite obvious, not out of control but quite dense.
While in others there are really only one or two in an entire area. Very few: Can you believe how thick and green it is! That's taken now, #nofilter
Having had the personal practical experience of couch grass I'm going to disagree that it weakens and dies off with regular cutting! I've recently just dug out two sizeable areas of it from my lawn that have resisted that treatment for 2 years so I bit the bullet and dug them out and reseeded them.
Am loving the 'blog' though. Keep at it and, as difficult as it is, keep patient!
Having had the personal practical experience of couch grass I'm going to disagree that it weakens and dies off with regular cutting! I've recently just dug out two sizeable areas of it from my lawn that have resisted that treatment for 2 years so I bit the bullet and dug them out and reseeded them.
Am loving the 'blog' though. Keep at it and, as difficult as it is, keep patient!
I feel a bit stupid most days. In fact I feel a lot stupid most days. You know they say experience is the thing you needed the moment immediately before you gained it. That’s how this feels.
I’m actually never sure I should do updates it’s such a mixture of thoughts but you saying you read some of it is very kind thank you.
So you actually dug it all out to deal with it?? As in removed the entire top surface roots and all? That doesn’t fill me with delight...
@traderneo yes I dug down to the bottom of the roots which was about 3" or so in old money. Reinstated new topsoil, seeded and actually had new shoots showing in 6 days. I was watering gently mutliple times per day to keep the soil moist while the seed germinated in the warm and dry conditions.
You may not need to do that and hopefully your 'unwanted' grass will succumb to the mowing approach recommended. I think a lot of your weeds will have blown in on the wind rather than been related to your soil preparation.
@traderneo yes I dug down to the bottom of the roots which was about 3" or so in old money. Reinstated new topsoil, seeded and actually had new shoots showing in 6 days. I was watering gently mutliple times per day to keep the soil moist while the seed germinated in the warm and dry conditions.
You may not need to do that and hopefully your 'unwanted' grass will succumb to the mowing approach recommended. I think a lot of your weeds will have blown in on the wind rather than been related to your soil preparation.
Updates from my neighbours is that the ground has been left to grow for about 15 years. So there really was a lot of stuff growing. I probably just gave it the space it needed!
But it’s very frustrating to see how many weeds there are. Crazy.
I hope regular cutting does the trick. I need a year off after all the prep!
I am trying to take pics which aren't the most flattering, the weeds are certainly very visible. Lots of rain overnight with more on the way so it's very wet. But what a pleasure to not have mud everywhere for a change!
I took two grabs from a video file I had from before to try to better identify some of the growth going on here, maybe the more astute amongst us can tell me what is trying to make a comeback? I can identify 3 clear growth types. Using my highly sophisticated modelling for weed identification, they have 3 different colour flowers so I figure they are 3 different things.
One is a purplish-blue flower, one is a pretty obvious pink and the last is yellow. Cunning eye I have! Anyone know what they are?
Since there are only so many pics you can take of grass without numbing the mind, here is a pretty picture of my reconditioned cylinder mower cassette all fresh and new. I don't recall who it was who warned against using a blade that wasn't sharp and while the mower cut a piece of paper along about 75% of it's length, there were flat sections where it didn't cut the paper.
That is now a thing of the past, this cylinder is insane and cuts like a new pair of scissors along the full length on any blade.
Posts
So I gave up on trying to find the Holster and have instead ordered some Weedol. Same ingredients just a different concentration in the prep. Simples. Oh and the Weedol helpline didn't appear to know they have an entirely new product in a 190ml bottle with completely different ingredients. Not sure that would be helpful in the event of a poisoning...you'd be in a spot of bother.
So it's been a light, gentle rain overnight and the amount of green makes your eyes ache. No plans to do anything at all for the next few days, other than pull the big weeds out and wait some more.
As you can see it's pretty much 30% low weed cover, the weeds are too short to mow but too many of them to allow the grass seeds to have a chance. The areas where there are no weeds or fewer weeds the grass has done astoundingly. Really well and I am pleased with that. Though even in those areas if you peek under the grass there are weeds lurking underneath...
The long strands of couch grass continue to be on my mind. They aren't so coarse or unsightly that I have this huge urge to do something about them, but equally they really do stand out head and shoulders above the seeded grass and I wonder if it's not worth giving them a wipe with a Glyphosate cloth and see what they do? Does anyone know if simply coating a few shoots/leaves in a couch grass stem/root will be enough to kill that particular bit of grass? They are currently really easy to identify and there aren't really that many of them, a few hours on a blanket in the sun and they will all get a decent wipe. Good idea bad idea? Waste of time? (I seem to be able to do a LOT of that at the moment.)
Anyway, enough waffle here are today's pics!
You were the only response to my question about the long grass strands (thank you!)
Just give the grass a very light trim , the grass need the leaf to photosynthesis more leaf more energy going to the roots. Slowly work your way down the cutting height but not to short, its recommend not to cut more than a third of the leaf off , and shorter you cut the grass far more work is involved.
Not sure I can pull it all out, the roots run pretty deep and complex in some areas, it would probably result in me tearing up a lot of the new stuff? About half of them, when I give them a gentle pull, end up breaking off in the ground anyway even when the soil is wet and loose. What are my other options when you say "kill them off"?
The advantage as I see it right now (and I mean in the next 2 days!) is they really are standing out a great deal more than the new grass. They are easily 2-3 times the height so I can seek them out easily enough, they aren't hard to identify or make contact with. But the new grass is growing like crazy and is catching up. Suggestions please!
In one area they are quite obvious, not out of control but quite dense.
While in others there are really only one or two in an entire area. Very few:
Am loving the 'blog' though. Keep at it and, as difficult as it is, keep patient!
I feel a bit stupid most days. In fact I feel a lot stupid most days. You know they say experience is the thing you needed the moment immediately before you gained it. That’s how this feels.
You may not need to do that and hopefully your 'unwanted' grass will succumb to the mowing approach recommended. I think a lot of your weeds will have blown in on the wind rather than been related to your soil preparation.
So 3 weeks in the ground here is where we are!
I am trying to take pics which aren't the most flattering, the weeds are certainly very visible. Lots of rain overnight with more on the way so it's very wet. But what a pleasure to not have mud everywhere for a change!
I took two grabs from a video file I had from before to try to better identify some of the growth going on here, maybe the more astute amongst us can tell me what is trying to make a comeback? I can identify 3 clear growth types. Using my highly sophisticated modelling for weed identification, they have 3 different colour flowers so I figure they are 3 different things.
One is a purplish-blue flower, one is a pretty obvious pink and the last is yellow. Cunning eye I have!
Anyone know what they are?
Since there are only so many pics you can take of grass without numbing the mind, here is a pretty picture of my reconditioned cylinder mower cassette all fresh and new. I don't recall who it was who warned against using a blade that wasn't sharp and while the mower cut a piece of paper along about 75% of it's length, there were flat sections where it didn't cut the paper.
That is now a thing of the past, this cylinder is insane and cuts like a new pair of scissors along the full length on any blade.