I would like to share my experiences in the fight against couch grass. A few years ago, we bought a recreational plot outside the city. It turned out that a large part of it is, unfortunately, heavily overgrown with couch grass. It was probably due to the light, poor soil.
The main way of spreading couch grass are bright rhizomes with numerous stolons, reaching up to several meters in lengthThis means that it quickly seizes the surface, and fighting it resembles a fight with windmills.Apparently this weed also promotes the development of pathogenic fungi and is a host of many pests.
In my garden I did not want to use herbicides, although some argued that it would not be possible without them.I focused on manual removal of runners from the soil. I conclude that human work is the most effective in couch grass. After clearing the area and plowing the 15-acre area, our whole family stood in a row to workWe chose warm, clear days, as the stolons, then brought to the surface, dry quickly and are easier to remove.
Tools that will make your work easier:
We used pitchforks and rakes to pull out the roots so as not to tear them. We tried to remove each piece as a new plant soon grows out of the smallest fragment. After raking the area, we sowed the mustard on green manure (4g / m2). You can also sow lupine, peas, vetch or phacelia.Densely sown mustard not only improves soil conditions, but also eliminates wireworm larvae.Shading the soil in the field by sowing live compost is a very good complementary way to combat this weed.
Perz likes sunny and dry places, and does not like moisture and rich soil. Therefore, when, for example, it starts to climb onto the lawn, we should often mow the lawn for a short time, water it and feed it.This will result in the gradual extinction of the weed and the growth of clumps of grass. In the spring, we tried to select the leftover weeds that had survived. They appeared only a few. Repeated deep plowing and digging weakens couch grass and causes its gradual dying off. This is called couch grass "fatigue".
