How to handle couch grass

[Beverley]

Hello!
I am so inspired by your web site and videos. I live in Sweden and followed your bed making recommendations to make 24 beds – each 10 m long, 75 cm wide. We put cardboard directly on tve ground and covered with 15 vm compost. The vegetables are growing wonderfully but we are exhaustef keeping sll the couch grass at bay. When we removed a row cover yesyerday, the couch grass was thriving underneath and had built a tangled mat above the cardboard.

An idea i have is that at the end of the season, we put double layers of cardboard on the beds, layer on 5 extra cm compost and then cover everything with some impenetrable cover until next Spring. Maybe even keep the cover on half the beds over next summer to really wipe out the weeds. Does this sound ok or would you do domething differently? What is the best cover for smothering weeds? (Have used Grow Grid / Yuzet for some of the beds but the weeds grow under these) Will it make a difference to leave the cover on half the beds for an extended period (28 months)?

I would be very grateful for any advice as I am beginning to feel overwhelmed by the tenacity of the couch grass!! Many thanks

[Beverley]

Sorry saw all the typos – I meant 18 months!!

[charles]

Hi Beverley
Sorry to hear of your powerful couch grass and yes it need total light exclusion for longer, 18 months would suffice I reckon but hopefully less.
Before removing a cover, check if there are still white stems of new growth, pushing up in the darkness. Keep the cover on if so, unless it’s just a few stragglers.
And yes any recover with double card & some compost will help.

[Beverley]

Many thanks for your reply! Any tips for the best type of ground cover? Should we go with a heavy tarpaulin or do we need to use something like Mypex which let’s water through?

Best regards, Beverley

[charles]

Black polythene is cheapest and most effective, make sure ground is moist before applying.

[Author]

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