Recognize quackgrass
It’s about a herbaceous perennial plant of the grass family. There are different species, but the most common is the common quackgrass Where quackgrass. It is also the most invasive. Here is what you need to know about this species:
- This plant gets its name from the fact that it is loved by dogs and other animals.
- If quackgrass can reach a height of 1 m, it usually measures 30 cm whether in your beds, in your vegetable garden or on your lawn on which it forms a denser clump and a more intense green than that of the lawn.
- If you tug on it to tear it off, you will find the presence of rhizomes. These are tracers and can pierce the roots of other plants. In one season, a plant can produce up to 1.50 m of roots in all directions and only a few centimeters of these are enough to produce a new plant.
- Quackgrass spreads not only by its rhizomes, but also by its seeds which spread everywhere and whose germination longevity is exceptional. Imagine, they can survive in the ground for at least 4 years, but not if they are buried 10 cm deep.
- Although it is feared by gardeners, it is a plant whose diuretic effects are recognized in traditional medicine.
- In the wild, quackgrass has another advantage of limit erosion by the sea or in very steep places.
Solutions to get rid of quackgrass
To overcome quackgrass, there are not 36 solutions: the only truly effective one is to carry out a manual uprooting. But it goes without saying that this operation is time-consuming and requires energy.
What you should not do
- Above all, do not use devices such as tiller or rototiller. The reason is that these devices tend to cut the rhizomes which will then be happy to multiply.
- The chemical weed killers do not offer a solution that is effective in the long term. They will then pollute the soil unnecessarily.
- the thermal weed control is also to be avoided, since it will have a stimulating effect on the development of rhizomes.
- the mulching will not be able to fight against this herbaceous, because it will have no effect on the rhizomes which will continue to develop and multiply underground.
- When you remove quackgrass, do not throw it in your compost at the risk of seeing it go back inside or scatter seeds.
What has to be done
- Conversely, you can use a grelinette, a croc, a hoe or a spade fork to perform scratching. This way you allow the rhizomes to come to the surface where they will dry out and die, otherwise you can tear them up as you dig them up.
- Even if this turns out to be a long and tedious solution, the hand weeding is very effective. It is then enough to pull on the rhizome to remove it over a maximum of its length.
- Prefer fall or early spring to proceed with the uprooting of the quackgrass. The end of summer can also be a good period, because the sap being then descending, the plant will be less strong.
- It is necessary that proceed with care to pull out all the roots without forgetting any, at the risk of seeing the couch grass reappear.
Deprive quackgrass of light
Another technique is to deprive the quackgrass of light. To do this :
- you have to completely cover the area on which the quackgrass has invited itself. Prefer a very thick tarpaulin, of the type used for construction sites, for example. If it is too thin, it may be pierced. You can also use old carpet, old rugs or cardboard.
- See to fix firmly to the ground whatever you’ve decided to use so that it stays in place even on windy days.
- You can also cover it with mulch for a more aesthetic result. Of course, anything under it will die, but if you don’t have any plants there, this can be a good solution.
- You will have to wait for several monthsabout 6.
- When you remove what you had installed to block out the light, if there are a few quackgrass plants left, rip them out to get rid of it altogether.
Avoid the appearance of quackgrass
- After getting rid of quackgrass in your garden, to prevent it from coming back, it is important to monitor the appearance of the slightest growth to act quickly and not let it develop. So as soon as you spot couch grass, shoot it immediately, trying to tear off as many rhizomes as possible. Be careful not to let the plant go to seed to avoid seeing it spread by air and having to start all over again.
- After having cleared an area of the quackgrass which invaded it, the fact ofspread a mulch provides good protection.