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Couch grass treatments

emz760emz760 Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Hi all. Ill health and treatment a couple of years ago meant my garden got away from me a bit and has resulted in my perennial flower beds being choked with this nightmare. I'm finally back at it but so far I understand my options to treat are either quite substantial chemical treatment or digging every root out by hand, both of which I'd prefer not to. Would some sort of ground covering for a season possibly work? Is there any chance I can dig out and save the existing plants without just replanting the grass roots into cleared ground after? TIA 😊

Posts

  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    Black plastic for a full year will work (I do that a lot) but it will take at least 1 whole year and possibly more if the grass is particularly well established. It will also only work if you can cover the entire area, any bits that are not covered, like in the neighbours garden or in the lawn will keep the bits under the plastic alive for much longer.
    I've saved a few plants by actually washing their roots, but I then had them in pots where I could keep an eye on them to make sure there wasn't any left over that I had missed.
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    emz760  Following what I've done in my own garden (by accident, not design) the stifling effect of compacted lawn mowings is excellent.  I'd thoroughly endorse Skandi's idea for black plastic but, if you can source the said mowings from e.g. a local sports field etc., you might like to apply a generous thickness of them to your patch before the plastic.
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