Ruth Stout's Worst Enemy (rhizomatous grass in a deep mulch garden)

[@sherrymacaroni5916]

I have painstakenly cleared a lot of garden space of quackgrass. The toil was so long that I thought I was the only person who would actually do it. I was even embarrassed and didn't want anyone to know I was that eccentric. But it doesn't stop there. It seemed like often the quackgrass would grow in my compost pile ( which I failed to keep hot enough thru carbon nitrogen balancing and turning, etc. So, I had massive amounts of evil grass which were threatening to reinvade through compost. This year, after moving again, I spent an absolutely embarrassing amount of time teasing the quackgrass out from a long overgrown garden plot. Then, even more bizarrely, I took it inside, bucket by bucket by bucket, laid it out in roasting pans, and put it in the oven to ensure it would not continue to grow in my poorly managed compost pile. I roasted a freakin' ton of it. Luckily there were no witnesses.

[@BackToReality]

Oh my goodness, thank you for this comment. You've made me feel so much better! ;)

[@sherrymacaroni5916]

@Ed B several years ago I tried to boil the long white quackgrass rhizomes like spaghetti, but it was a total fail.

[@shellieh685]

Sounds like it may have been therapeutic as well. Did you yell (at least in your mind) DIE, DIE, DIE! While it was roasting? 😉 Hope you have a great year!

[@jalenejohnson8484]

This feels like an equivalent to the movie Office Space where they are beating up the printer with the gangster music overlapping them 🤣🤣🤣 oh my goodness thank you for this! I love that you cooked them! When you said they were in your compost my heart sank in horror as I imagined you spreading it all over your garden. Then you cooked it and immediately were wearing a super hero cape! Awesome! Thank you for being vulnerable in sharing something you wanted to hide 💜

[@MountainGardenGirl]

Would you like to see a fb page with a place to share these ideas in a more interactive way...I asked the author to start one.

[@oddstr13]

«So, if you like us have discovered some of this grass in *your* garden…» What do you mean? *I* am attempting to discover my *garden* in this grass…

[@josephlangford6473]

Love your comment. Had a good laugh, been there.

[@cutiepoodle]

🤣👍

[@azgardenlover370]

My problem is nut grass. I am trying to find my soil in this mess. Same issues. Not winning any of these battles

[@janetthornton7909]

I too have been plagued with quack grass. The best method I have found to stop it getting into my garden is a physical barrier. We cut metal roofing into 18” wide strips and bury it vertically around the garden perimeter. We overlap the pieces about 6” and rivet them together. The joints are the vulnerable places of invasion; there can be no gaps or the grass will find those and creep in. Has worked very well for us

[@victorandrews9790]

Love this idea...I'm not get mechanical so the riveting would take me out. But, I have tons of corrugated metal...Can one simply overlap enough to prevent the possibilty of roots getting through?

[@relentlessprofanity]

I build my beds 30' by 40' with a moveable fence to create a chicken run where I will leave about 30 hens for a season to kill the grass. Then I will build the beds the next season with hay and wood chips in the paths and a good 3' border around the whole thing. I also have been building a border of comfrey all around the garden plot that blocks the rhizomes from coming back in and provides some good green mulch. Anything that gets past that I weed by hand. I can grow in the bed for 2-3 years and then cycle the chickens back in to clean up the plot and add nutrients. I've only been doing it for a few years now but it's been working well without much labor as my market garden is a 1 man show.

[@epicdabber1008]

Never has a 20 min video gone so fast

[@BackToReality]

:) Thanks!

[@ricardobejeraste3569]

That is very true, but also very normal for this channel! All I could wish was for longer videos, as it is so pleasant to watch and I learn so much!

[@carmenortiz5294]

I disagree. Over 24 minutes to end up with solution: pull by hand and leave nothing behind.

[@machematix]

I never thought I'd be so entertained watching grass grow. Subscribed.

[@epicdabber1008]

Carmen Ortiz I’m congratulating him because he made two points 24 mins and also very entertaining

[@BackToReality]

QUICK CORRECTION: Owen Davies just pointed out that the "clover" I showed at 2:38 is actually "wood sorrel". Doh! So, I guess that makes FIVE weeds that regularly make it through our mulch. Sorry for the mistake, but many thanks to Owen, for the correction!

[@MeliponiculturaenCostaRica]

Oh yes, those nasty creeping rhyzome plants, in the tropics they are the norm, either vines from the sweet potato family, to fleshy grasses that may creep over dry soil for meters before needing to root again, or the most horrible I have yet found, Hydrocotyle umbellata. I had to kill all the lawn of my house to get it out and plant again good grass. I was hoping I could manage it, but every month it got worse and worse. So in gardens the best option is to use raised beds, they may perfectly be used with the permanent mulch, and provide a heavier protection against those creepers, you may stop them before they climb to your working area. Also among the raised beds, all the walking areas are mulched and a dug up fence is placed, wire fencing lets all weed get inside, so a solid 50cm fence is what I placed, no grass seeds fly away when you mow nor armadillo may get in.

[@shelinlin1900]

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[@shelinlin1900]

Rrrrrr

[@ThePresidentAnybody]

Common wood sorrel is pretty tasty as well.

[@thisorthat7626]

@@ThePresidentAnybody Thank you! I never knew what this weed was that I kept mistaking for clover. Good to know it has positive uses. LOL

[@MooshBoosh]

The production quality of this wowza. And I'll be searching for some of her books, her writing sounds nice.

[@BackToReality]

Thanks so much :) And for sure, I hope you can find some. They are a joy to read.

[@robkilpatrick4283]

Agreed. Very thorough and informative and all of that wrapped in a great presentation. This video earned my sub. Thank you!

[@aaronmgriffin]

Agreed. I'd love to see a little information of how you make these videos. I always find that fascinating

[@micheals1992]

Some of these things won't work in certain climates, if you're somewhere where slugs flourish straw and hay mulch will create the perfect environment for slugs to live in

[@teresahiggs4896]

There’s an video of her being interviewed also ....on KZbin.

[@MistressOnyaCox]

Your vids easy to watch simple voice over makes huge difference. Everyone walks around with camera In face. THIS IS WAYYYYY BETTER THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUU

[@wagglemonkey]

my favorite rhizome barrier is comfrey. the roots are just too hearty for even crabgrass to try to compete through it when well established. Also its the easy to propagate that you can thicken the barrier just by cracking the roots with a shovel.

[@bobbywheeler6933]

I just planted 20+ comfrey roots just outside the fence of my garden. I learned this from Sean @edibleacres. He's mentioned comfrey as a rhizome barrier multiple times in his videos.

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

@@bobbywheeler6933 I scrolled down specifically to ask about comfrey. I heard about it being a rhizome barrier on Edible Acres, too. I like comfrey anyway, for mulch and making tea. Last year I transplanted one into a raised bed and just pulled it out a couple weeks ago - the harvest of roots from that one plant was enormous considering it only takes a piece a couple inches long to start a new plant. We bought a few root pieces of Bocking 14 (doesn't produce viable seed) a couple years ago and it's probably the highest-returning investment I've ever made. Our German Shephard really loves to lay down right on top of a comfrey plant. But it really doesn't seem to bother the plant one bit; it will spring right up again the next day.

[@rosecoward3292]

Except my concern is that comfrey is on the list of invasive weeds because it is impossible to get rid of them. They too spread through the three methods mentioned above.

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

@@rosecoward3292 Get the Bocking 14 cultivar of comfrey. It does not spread by rhizomes and it does not make viable seed. It just stays where you put it. Now if you till it and break up the roots, yes each root piece can grow a new plant. I don't till anyway, but regardless I only plant comfrey along property lines, next to the driveway etc, where it's very unlikely the roots will be disturbed. Unless of course I dig one up to use to plant more comfrey.

[@leenverlinden911]

@@rosecoward3292 I planted Blocking 14 last year and pulled it in fall. Indeed a stubborn weed. Every few days I pull up the new leafs and add them to a comfrey tea.

[@comradecid]

similar varieties also plague areas of the united states. i once spent an entire season hand-tilling and hand-screening my entire property to a depth of one-and-a-half feet in an attempt to get rid of it. the effort was back-breaking... and ultimately futile. never have i hated a weed so much.

[@jenniferbreukelman4738]

I absolutely love your videos! You make everything so easy to understand (even from the tone of your voice to the wonderfully done graphics) You are willing to deal with topics that show also your struggles rather than nothing but successes. Thank you both for taking the time and energy to share with others.

[@TheWtfnonamez]

I learned a lot. Thank you. I have just taken over an allotment that is riddled with this stuff. It used to be an agricultural dump, the previous owner did nothing with it basically infested with this crap. I spoke to the guy over the road who runs an agricultural shop, and he knew a lot about this. The down side was that he very casually said that I should either take the hit and make raised beds, cover it for a year or two, or spray it. The most hilarious thing he said very casually was "you will be able to make that land really good .... in five or six years.". Gutted. Based on everything I know thus far, and because I simply dont have the time or energy to micro-dig 100square meters of thick clod, I think Im going to do this. Grab whatever crap I can find scattered around the site to cover as much of the ground as I can. Create a trench barrier around the outside. As far as possible in the short term, improvise some raised beds, and grow in pots. Accept the fact that I might have to go section by section, making it good, and improvising some form of barrier between the sections to stop the rhizomes spreading. I saw guy nearby who has been on the same site for over a decade, and his patch looks like finely tuned potting compost, so I know it can be beaten, but its certainly my nemesis.

[@danrobsilva]

This was super interesting to watch and extremely well produced, much like all of your videos.

[@ItsKango]

I always get excited when you guys upload a video :D

[@bethaddis4377]

When quack grass would take over my garden. I would fence it and put pigs on it. They love the toxins. They eat the mulch. EaTill the soil. Eat the grass and the rhizomes Fertilize and I get bacon. I love my pigs

[@wisconsinfarmer4742]

Toxins?

[@metetong2065]

Clever, do you think that sheep will be able to do the trick to?

[@BrokenZen311]

You think chickens would work?

[@leelastarsky]

@@BrokenZen311 I have couch and kikuyu on my property that has survived freaking BUSHFIRES. NOTHING kills it. My chickens have not killed it, BUT they eat every blade that emerges, so it is currently not appearing anywhere that my chickens have access to. So it's not cured, but it is being kept at bay. I'm quite sure that when the chickens are removed from the equation the grass WILL be back.

[@sp10sn]

Sheep, chickens, goats, etc don't root into the ground the way pigs will. I imagine that's the rhizome killer right there.

[@g.y.o5419]

I feel your pain! Bind weed and Couch Grass, it drives me nuts. It took me 2 summers to totally dig out every last bit of it from a 30x30 area. It kept creeping back in from the borders of my garden. The best way to deal with it that I have found is, tarp the grass to kill the tops off. When you have left it long enough to kill the top off and left with bare soil, dig the roots out and get rid of it. Don't compost it, it will just spread again...as i found out when I first started lol!

[@jlasud]

digging in planks standing on their edge on the edge of your garden works in keeping them stinky rhizomes to advance in your garden. I've tried it,and seems to be very effective. I've used about 6 inches wide planks,as they seem to be advancing quite close to the surface.

[@g.y.o5419]

@@jlasud That will certainly do the job. The only long term issue with that is, that wood will eventually rot away. I am trying to get some concrete pavers to do the same thing, but as yet I don't have as many as I need to do it.

[@jlasud]

@@g.y.o5419 Yep. depending on the wood,it lasts 4-20 years. Concrete probably lasts longer,however personally,would not put it near my garden. Either way,it's a part of the solution.

[@1is7ener65]

I have both weeds as well and share a lawn with a neighbour whose yard is infested with it. I prefer yanking out the grass vs bind weed lol. I have tried it all except chemicals and cannot get rid of them due to my neighbors lawn. The best was when I left my intex pool out all year then finally put it away. The grass went through two layers of tarp and most roots were in a ball. The bindweed died or moved on elsewhere in the yard.

[@AS-df6eu]

Couch grass isn't all bad.... it seems to compete somewhat with my chamber bitter. When those two start chasing me into the house... I'm moving...

[@MsDusty731]

It sounds like the Bermudagrass we deal with here in the southern U.S. It is also rhizomatic and will extend several feet and pop up anywhere. This spring after seeing another KZbin video about this grass, I laid down cut, thick strips of carpet with wood chips on top as a border around my vegetable garden. It laughed at the normal type of carpet with the mesh backing and grows right through, along with the Florida betony (rattlesnake weed). What it hasn't come through yet is the rubber-backed outdoor carpet that is on two sides of the garden. This is an option for the perimeter of a garden if you're having problems with rhizomatic grass. Just make sure it has a thick layer of rubber on the back - no mesh.

[@Cullen35]

We had the same issue around our garden and tried many methods including the sheet mulch perimeter. It did work but pulling the plants or constantly getting a wheel barrow of material was a lot of work. The method we have used for 3 years now with huge success was a version of the trench method. We hoe around the garden a dead zone about 12-18 inches wide every 2-3 weeks takes about 15 minutes and have zero grass get through in 3 years. We use a very sharp scuffle hoe to make the job very fast and easy and only do it when the soil is dry to make it easy. Thanks for sharing your experience and great story telling.

[@earthmotherfarm8229]

literally the only video i found that finds some beneficial qualities to quack grass

[@claudiaw9246]

I always look forward to your videos, because I learn something new each time! As usual, your clear explanations combined with the visuals make it easy to follow along, even when it comes to a topic like this. I had NO idea how relentless this particular weed was, but it's good to know that it has its redeeming qualities. PS Love the Tribbles reference, ha ha.

[@sweetbizil]

Another help you could try is a vegetative rhizome barrier such as rhubarb or non-spreading comfrey -- just a thought. Super great video as always. Goes to show that no method is foolproof and that all land devoid of vegetation WANTS to be filled with lush greenery, even when covered sufficiently. Guess that brings me to my ideology -- planting so much good stuff close together that it crowds out the grass (and each other somewhat, but that is better than the grass). You touched on it at the end too. Nature wants erosion control and the cycles of bare soil to grassland to shrubland to forest to fire/disaster and then start all over! It's difficult to fight nature as she is persistent and has so many tricks up her sleeve. Guess we sedentary agricultural humans have nothing but antagonism and bones to pick with this natural process, until we once again enter into the cycle we historically inhabited as nomadic creatures, just tens of thousands of years ago... Much love

[@emmaslow]

This is your first video I have come across and I'm in awe of both the informative content and the brilliant visual animations. Thanks for putting so much time into this, and for focusing on the sorts of issues that are the nitty gritty of all those actually growing things, rather than catering purely for an audience merely wanting to be entertained (entertainment is great, it's just extra helpful when you're struggling for answers to be able to find such detailed information). 🙏

[@tomdonahue8110]

I don’t even have a garden but I just sat here mesmerized by your video. Outstanding presentation. I learned something about a topic I didn’t know anything about before watching. Thanks for posting!

[@guineverependragon9804]

Solution at 13:30. Have been wondering about this! Most presenters just ignore the topic. In tropical areas, rhizomes grow up to a foot below the surface. Bermuda grass, kikuyu grass...I would include the nut sedges. Looks like your blessing with quackgrass is its shallow depth of rhizome growth. I killed a 20'x10' bed of kikuyu by first spraying Roundup (wouldn't do that now; a tarp would do as well over time). After it completely yellowed I roto-tilled well, and removed rhizomes by hand. It stayed good for a couple of years afterward.TY for educating me about Ruth Stout. So few women innovators get credit. I'll be using her name in future Permaculture and Syntropic agriculture pursuits.

[@bitsnpieces11]

The best answer may very well be "PIGS", they LOVE the rhizomes(nuts), (called nut grass here in Fl.), I have seen them dig six(6) feet to get to them so they can be eaten. So fence in your area and put pigs there. They will dig out every bit and till the soil deeply and fertilize, to give you an incredible garden. If you don't eat pork, just keep them for someone else.

[@nagasvoice8895]

We have struggled for years with Bermuda grass and Dallis grass. I completely understand the struggle to smother rhizomatous pests. I've adopted the cardboard smothering method, but it does require a lot of layers and a lot of vigilant re-applications.

[@Leeofthestorm]

excellent video, folks. I have to say that I have one more weed very similar in characteristics to quack grass that I would add to future 'I don't ever want this in my garden--Like ZERO TOLERANCE- and that is Canada Thistle. I have two other rhizome spreading grasses as well that can be troublesome. I have zero tolerance on all meadow grass species in my garden. I have actually been able to deal with all of them with repeated cardboard applications and weeding out when they show up. But you can not let up, and go on vacation. You have to be as relentless as they are. That is the way to beat them.

[@SerpentBreath]

I worked with a LA on a few restoration projects one of which was on the waterway that passed through my orchard. He did some research on flame weeding. Using the flame weeded to just damage the plant enough to change the color of the leaf to a darker green. The plant uses energy to try to fix itself rather than just resprouting. This is one way I keep the weeds in check.

[@mariannegibson1407]

Thank you for this, pretty much all of our grass is couch grass, so this resonated with me! I am digging out my paths and putting the soil onto the beds for precisely this reason. When I started my first beds, I used the inverted turf from the area as the bottom layer of the bed. I had no idea how hard it was for grass to die in a cool, rainy climate! I am now using any turf I remove to create a low windbreak turf wall instead. One small tip i have learnt - I was given a load of leylandii trimmings, which everyone says not to compost or mulch with because they kill everything. Well, they're actually pretty good at smothering couch grass, and potatoes will still grow through them - a great example of 'the problem is the solution'!

[@davidconnell4826]

There are two solutions which have worked extremely well for me. We don't have quack grass in Australia, but we have something equally if not more invasive: kikuyu (pennisetum clandensium). It behaves exactly the same. This summer, we will have cleared approx 700 sq. m of it. In a new area, we put pigs. The pigs will effectively kill it, because they act like the till option: they will root it up, again and again, completely removing its power and at this point, well over 90 percent of it is dead. Then we move the pigs, put down straw, and on top of the straw, put 30 cm of compost. Elsewhere in the garden, we have used cardboard with 30 cm of compost on top with great effect. The time to do this is in early autumn, when the grass begins to store its energy to come back after winter. Since it can't, the emergence in spring is virtually non existent.

[@mikefriend7570]

The most resilient grass I’ve EVER come across . Watching your video has given me an even deeper respect for this species. I have spent most of this summer ‘rooting out’ this grass, and also poisoning it in my lawn I have to confess. Only time will tell how good a job I’ve done

[@EatAtJoes]

It was so good that I didn't even realize 20 minutes had passed!

[@Chiryaaghar]

Please post frequently.. love ur work..

[@dhawthorne1634]

I've had luck with agricultural vinegar and salt. I start with a fully saturated brine (buy the 50lb water softener bags) and mix 2/5 brine to 3/5 70% acetic acid. I use a hand pump spray bottle and mist every weed thoroughly on any morning when there is suppose to be no rain. They are all dried out by noon and most grasses die out within a month or two.

[@jeanajett2719]

Does the vinegar kill other plants growing nearby as well?

[@dhawthorne1634]

​@@jeanajett2719 If you get any of the mist on, it will cause spotting and potentially kill them, yes. Don't do it on a windy day and use a piece of cardboard to shield any plants growing right next to the weed. I have found that certain weeds are a bit more hearty. Thistles die a lot quicker on top, but the roots take longer to starve than grasses. Grasses you have to be really aggressive but once the tops die, the roots are pretty much done. As for over-spray, succulents seem to be particularly vulnerable to it, as are any plants with small or delicate leaves like parsley, violets, lettuces, young basil and young nightshades. Large and tough leaves or needles seem to be able to shake it off a bit better: cruciferous vegetables, full grown nightshades, sunflowers, luvage, beans and rosemary. That's not to say it doesn't affect them. I killed off a chunk of my loganberry bush chasing after a particularly stubborn thistle the other year.

[@tanarehbein7768]

What is agricultural vinegar? Can I get it at a feed store?

[@dhawthorne1634]

​@@tanarehbein7768 Possibly? It's just a higher concentration of acetic acid. I buy 45% acetic acid on Amazon. For killing plants, you only need about 35-40%. Alternatively, if you live near a chemical/lab supply company you may be able to pick up some 65% or glacial (100%) and dilute it for less cost. BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT OVERSPRAY. A single drop of the mist will cause a brown spot and less hardy plants (usually the ones we want to keep around) could suffer. I typically do it first thing in the morning before the breeze picks up or I use a newspaper section as an absorbent barrier. Also: Be careful with getting it on your skin. At 30-40% dilution, it'll just dry your skin out. 65% should be rinsed off with water fairly quickly. 80-100% will burn you. Wear vinyl gloves and have a bucket of water nearby.

[@tanarehbein7768]

@@dhawthorne1634 okay, does that mean it's a chemical killer an organic grower should stay away from? And what about residual in the soil next to food crops? Is it just a cheep Roundup?

[@norxgirl1]

Glad to see this video. Been using RS method for 2nd year, northern middle Tennessee. My problem is Bermuda Grass, which does the rhizome thing as well. Hard pan rocky clay soil on 10% grade. Nodes would break underground if wet soil, so that method didn't work for me. I finally settled on a Meadow Creature broadfork, since the claw was taking too long. I could dig up a lot of soil to get to the roots and eradicate them......seemed to work the best, then covered back up with hay and wood chips. Will begin the process in my new garden area this spring.....

[@Jacksparrow4986]

Many have said so already, but your videos are just great. Feels like listening to friends, as you're not yet grandparents aged ;) the research, the animations and voiceover, the puns, the star trek reference, the topics and the approaches you take - I literally like all of it. Will see if quackgreass gets pianfull for our garden, we have a rhizomous plant that I'm trying to reduce to favor my strawberries. Keep it up!

[@MrMawnster]

I take advantage of those types of grasses in my grazing operation. Anything that has a rhizome smooth bromegrass etc are able to penetrate where I bale graze in the winter. That method leaves a mulch which is how I fertilize areas of my pastures. Quackgrass can be outcompeted by smooth bromegrass and others if I graze it right but where it dominates I try not to lose too much sleep because it's a cool season grass and although not as productive it's high in protein when it's vegetative and not stressed lol

[@keralee]

Yes!! Animals and grasses are meant for each other!

[@ruthsgardeningdesciple8306]

I have recently found couch grass in my patch. I only have Ruth's gardening without work book. Hence I just pull it up and remulch but with straw. I find it less weedy than hay. Our allotment is almost entirely managed by the Stout method. We also experiment with other types of mulch like cardboard etc, but as Ruth said and I paraphrase, a mulch is a mulch, if it takes longer to break down then you just have to replace it less. Thank you for the great videos. They are very educational, and I like the fact that they are not lightweight.

[@emwing1458]

I'm in Southern Oregon and my yard is infested with Bermuda grass. It has smothered many young plants and trees and garden beds. I had a small pond dug and saw healthy rhizomes growing three feet under the surface in clay. It flourishes after being burned off. It has travelled many feet under a concrete pad. It has pierced through a plastic wading pool. It loves mulch and will grow huge mats of rhizomes underneath. I realize I will never win (after many many hours of valiant effort) but I can at least keep it at bay. Just clipping the growing tips down doesn't work since it has a vast underground network to draw energy from other areas. In areas where nothing else is planted (e.g. a gravel area), spraying with vinegar works for a few months. Sadly, I have many established plants whose roots are intertwined with Bermuda grass. I am slowly making a food forest, and in a decade, it will probably be too shady for grass. In a decade. Sigh.

[@maceyloubrown]

I feel your pain! I have Bermuda grass, too! I’m gonna do cardboard and mulch multiple times a year OR once a year but very very thick to try to smother it. Wish me luck.😭😭😭

[@maceyloubrown]

My other idea I’ll be trying is to heavily seed my beds with native flower seeds, anything that will be equally prolific as the Bermuda to outcompete it. I’d rather have anything to weed than Bermuda or the quack grass in the video...

[@thomastl9581]

My friend , if it s so aggressively growing around YOU, it means that it s sending you a message. Q: How are you feeling, how s your general health? Pls let me know. This grass is a strong medicinal plant in eastern europe russia and asia. Thx, and take care.

[@emwing1458]

@@thomastl9581 Thomas - thank you so VERY much for your reply. The last few years have been very rugged for me, to the point of feeling I could not carry on. I am the sole provider in the family dealing with a family member's severe chronic illness, taking care of the house and yard, dealing with work uncertainty and drama, and the Oregon wildfires coming two blocks from my house. As soon as I read your post, I thought, SURVIVAL. Bermuda grass is telling me, you can cut me apart, and I will survive. You can smother me, and I will survive. You can burn me, and I will survive. I can thrive in new places. It filled me with strength and happiness to view this as a powerful and positive plant ally, instead of only seeing the shadow side. Wow - mind is blown. (of course, it has lessons about boundaries too). I will see what info I can find about medicinal uses.

[@emwing1458]

@@maceyloubrown Best of best of luck to you!

[@POLkaOLka]

Pulling it by the root is often a waste of time because inevitably some of the root breaks off. And all that digging harms the structure of the soil. But it is oh so satisfying when you get a plant out in its entirety. Best to just keep ripping off the tops and eventually the root will die off. No digging required. Also, couch grass roots are very good as an herbal remedy for stones. And the grass can be juiced much like wheatgrass so it can still be used for something. :) love your video

[@marypaino1327]

Dug out as much as possible year one. Year 2 again in spring covered with to kill seeds for 1 month, uncovered then let what was left to grow freely, and dug remaining roots. Also always weedwack before it seeds. Year 3 very few shoots came up and am getting ready to do a quick maintenance this season's end. Next challenge is the creeping trumpet vine rhiozomes. Oh what joys..

[@jameskniskern2261]

Trumpet vines roots go DEEP! I've found some at least 2 feet down. And they still broke off. But they can be defeated the same way, keep cutting them off, and forcing them to regrow. Eventually they run out of energy in the root.

[@marypaino1327]

@@jameskniskern2261 Thanks, had a feeling they were pretty deep as I been cutting down all summer. Now that veggies are almost done....

[@leynaabbey]

I use Ruth Stout's method in raised beds, but bc of my climate, killing this grass off requires several layers of cardboard; then covered with several layers of wood chips.

[@chiefchick]

This is the best video I have seen about explaining weeds in detail. We already know about the rhizome, bec as gardeners, we encounter it all the time. But, in my personal experience, I have ever used hay/straw once and that was to protect a seedling from the last frost. Well, what do you know, I did notice less weeds!! And the weeds that came up i quickly pulled so that summer, I had less weeds! Yes, suffocating them does work!

[@laurajones3619]

Thank you for this video! I’m in Northwestern Ontario and have been fighting this grass for years. Three years ago I found our about no-till gardening. So at that time I put away my tiller and hand-dug and weeded a large section of garden that remained relatively free of quack grass until this year. Two years years ago I hand dug quack grass out of my most of my beds - but alas did not have the energy to hand dig my aisles. My garden was full of quackgrass. Last fall gave up and I tilled and tilled again - then put down several inches of composted manure and hand dug some areas. This fall my garden looks like a lawn. So... I starting hand-digging an area, built a raised permanent bed with a three foot border that I hand weeded and then on the border I placed two layers of cardboard covered with wood chips. I am going to try to enlarge that area and have one more bed with another 3 food border of cardboard and wood chips and then keep expanding using that technique. Your video has shown me that when I have quackgrass in that section I will weed and place more mulch there. Good know about using a tarp and letting the garden sit for a year. We just replaced the tarp on a big shelter and I will use the old tarp to cover one area of the garden. Onwards ... Love the quality of your videos and your research!

[@balanced4harvest552]

I'm in NWO, also, and use a Broadfork when developing my Garden Plots, setting aside the shaken out sod, and carefully looking for every tentacle of quack grass there is. I often think of people, chopping up the twitch, with a Rodeo Tiller, and magnifying they're problem. As many people have mentioned, it tends to grow in from the side's or pathways, so will have to use cardboard and use my stockpile of wood chips. Happy gardening.

[@MsMariaSierra]

The vain of my existence!!!! I just spent weeks fighting it off!! Took over the entire garden. Hopefully doing the trench around will help prevent it’s creeping back! Love your videos. They’re sorely missed.

[@beggo1989]

Every time you post a new video it's a small celebration. I adore you're videos and my only complaint is that they are so far apart. Keep up the good work!

[@itagbbnnews247]

Learned a lot and didn't think I'd watch 'til the end.....but I did

[@jlasud]

I made an experiment,that seemingly worked. I dug a narrow trench on the edge of the garden ,with a pickaxe,and I've put in it wooden planks about 6 inches wide standing on it's edges,in that trench. Then put the soil back on both sides of the planks. This definitely stopped the rhizomes from getting in the garden from the outside,which was one of their main routes of attack. The planks will compost over a few years,so not super long term,but after a year, this seems to help a lot. If you use underground planks around the garden,clear the garden as much as possible from the rhizomes,and put deep mulch on top of it,pick the few grass leaves that still pop out, you should be able to keep it from taking hold of your garden. They're definitely my worst enemy in the garden,as they can reclaim your garden,sabotage your production, if not kept in check.

[@itsno1duh]

It may have been entertaining (and not LONG at all!) to the novice but not the fully initiated! Things I have learned as I have dealt with this adversary. It has a depth level, less than a foot but more like 6 inches 'in soil' and maybe less under mulch. I aquired some by falling for a "free land fill" give-away in my beginning home ownership saga! Someone simply scooped off the top 8-12 inches of their problem and generously shared them with me! Never try to pull this from dry compacted soil (every break starts a new plant system!), always loosen (maybe by broadfork) already moistened soil, then gently tease out the strands and learn to recognise the parts and how to follow shoots back to the mother plant. Never compost this grass or parts. Someone advised me to treat this like "toxic waste" but my naturalist's mind said there has to be a safe way to use this. Having read the book "Farmers of Forty Centuries" (internet archives) I learned of a wet fermetation/compost process they used so I decided to try it myself on the worst of the worse! I have lots of buckets from friends who get kitty litter and I simply fill the buckets (sometimes adding a few comfry leaves as I do) cover with water and in a few days it begins to smell like a barnyard so to keep my neighbor from having to suffer my science projects I layer wood chips, crushed charcoal or leafmold on top and that stops the wafting (oh it WILL waft! lol). I use a stout branch to submerge the mass and turn the fresher parts underneath and then add more of the grass and captured rhizomes and submerge until the bucket is fully loaded then leave it to finish. Often it looks like a bucket of mud when totally done. Once you are knowledgable /brave you can pile all your bucket contents layering with wood chips or leaves and it transforms into useable compost over a winter. Turn buckets upside down to stop offending smells! I now use this for most weeds that are rhizomous or already seeded. www.compostjunkie.com/anaerobic-composting.html

[@itsno1duh]

Also I think "creeping charlie" is the evil cousin of quack grass not even having the courtesy to die off in winter! And creeping charlie will jump a RAVINE!

[@davidhynd4435]

Gardening - the triumph of hope over experience. In Australia we have several nuisance rhizomatous grasses. Couch grass (pronounced "Cooch") which is not the same as the plant you've discussed here (Elymus repens), and Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum), a thicker stemmed, but equally difficult to control grass from Africa. Our Couch grass (Cynodon dactylon) is extremely aggressive and very hard to break with short internodes and, therefore, lots of growth points. It can be somewhat controlled by using Glyphosate, but chemicals like this can be very damaging to the environment, so not a good choice. My gardens are never completely rid of Couch grass, but I keep it under some control using thick mulches and regular "hunt and destroy" missions. All my gardens have quite deep spaded edges. Our Couch grass also creeps and can't jump trenches either, but it will happily grow down one side of a trench and back up the other side.

[@cbjones2212]

I'm in Aus too and came here looking for something to help deal with the couch in our garden(s). Glad to see another long suffering soul. Looks like I'm sharpening the spade tomorrow. Oh, I've had success in the pathways of the veg garden by putting a thick layer of fine eucy mulch over cardboard then woodchips over the eucy after a couple of weeks. The lag time before the woodchips is to tramp down the eucy into a fairly impenetrable mat first. Our main problems are with the edge creep from the 'lawn'

[@hesh2892]

There is a fir tree that is grown in many parts of australia. When the thin spiky leaves of the firs fall on ground...nothing grows there ! It is a great mulch. Somebody should mulch that tree and sell it in trailer loads

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

I know this is an older post, but I was reading in the comments of others that they let their chickens loose on these grasses... apparently they love to eat the stuff, roots and all! Some people said they made a fenced-in chicken run around the perimeter of their garden to create a grass-free zone. Sounded like they had great success with this method! Oh, I just read ducks and pigs also work!

[@adamonicusattempts7119]

Excellent, and insightful! Thanks for sharing! With regard to the wood sorrel, I would highly recommend eating them. Take one leaf (should look like a 3 leaf clover in shape, but usually a brighter yellow-green) and taste it. If it tastes like a lemon without the sourness, you have a real treat for salads and other things where it’s delicate flavor can be appreciated. The pods are especially flavorful!

[@sylmarie6494]

Your videos are always so well-researched and document. I really appreciate following you guys. I've learned a great deal. Thank you for taking the time to create.

[@p.t.anderson1593]

This has to be the best video I've ever watched on grass. Bravo!

[@realgoodbear7149]

What a great video. I wish I had found this sooner as I have been trying to find a way to battle my bermuda grass for 5 years. Last year I finally built a raised bed from concrete blocks and lined the bottom and sides with cardboard, taking care to overlap by a foot or more where there were seams. I used a very thick cardboard and when it got damp it curved away from the concrete block wall and the devil grass grew up through the tiny space between the concrete and cardboard! I am encouraged that the raised bed may help me win the battle, but I'm still worried about losing the war. I'm going to try planting comfrey as others have mentioned and I'm going to smother and trench as you have done. ONWARD!

[@SharpWorks]

As someone who recently started getting into Star Trek, the reference at 4:30 was perfect!

[@drawingmomentum]

I laid old carpeting on top and deprived them (and other invasive rhizome weeds) of all water and sun for about 4 months, starting late winter. They're as dead as dust and compost now. 😉 Love that u added that extra bit at the end! ❤

[@CarlosRuiz-en9iy]

I used chickens to till, eat, and destroy Bermuda Grass (another stoloniferous grass) here in Southern California. I worked really well and i was on accident!

[@scwheeler24]

We have it to here in Texas. I hate the stuff but I cannot convince my hubby. He loves it. It impossible to have any kind of raised bed or flower gardens the grass is unrelenting and takes over everything. I’ve been using the totes method and it keeps that nasty stuff out of them. And don’t use grass clippings. No, no, the seeds survive. I even hate but I do use leaves in the fall. You have to be careful not to get grass. Ugh I hate the stuff

[@maggiescalf5312]

Yes! I use my chickens too! I deep mulch with wood chips but let my hens in the garden in between each growing season. This year we double fenced the perimeter for a chicken moat in hopes that they keep the grass from coming in from the lawn.

[@caseG80]

@@maggiescalf5312 they say pigs do an amazing job against them

[@keralee]

@@scwheeler24 its horrible stuff! Ought to be illegal to grow it imo. I would put chickens or pigs on it and leave them there until they totally destroy every speck...then use them as a "moat" to prevent encroachment to the cleared areas. Am certain God created cows to save the world from grasses.

[@scwheeler24]

@@keralee back breaker never ending trying to keep it out of areas. Hate it but I guess it’s just about the only grass that can handle TX.

[@daryasevastopolska9885]

Thank you for this very necessary video! My grandmother (80 years old) is still battling, with no success, this grass in her lands in Ukraine. This nemesis hasn't given her a break, and I was almost convincing my grandma to try out this method when I saw your video. Hope to see your news on this matter soon! Cheers :)

[@cindycalvert4875]

I have 2 kinds of grass that propagate by creeping, and I really appreciate this video for all of the options to take care of it. I think being in a city with my growing area almost surrounded by concrete and asphalt will help a little, but I will definitely try digging a trench in the area I can’t control in any other way!

[@tylerehrlich1471]

I don't know if you read your comments, but holy heck THANK YOU for being so thorough by going into all the strategies of getting rid of this grass, all the way to the last option that seems to work best, adding organic matter! The question that never seemed to be asked was, "why is quackgrass growing here?" Seems like a pertinent question. "It moved in," one might say. Well why now, and not earlier? Could be something to do with soil conditions. As you waxed intelligently at the end, this plant is an amazingly durable machine of photosynthesis. Is it perhaps showing up because the soil needs something quackgrass provides? What other plants besides quackgrass could you introduce that bring the same qualities? The ground seems to be begging for quackgrass - I wonder why?

[@HippieHillHomestead]

Very educational video. I plant clover,vetch and over 20 other green manures in my garden. They are very beneficial for an organic no till garden.

[@VeganPrepper]

No, you're the best!!! 🥰 Anyway, we deal with Bermuda here in Arizona. And while it is a pain, my favorite quote about gardening is, "The most important tool in gardening is your shadow." As in, let your shadow fall on your garden every day. And man, does that grass keep my shadow on my garden. I've come to appreciate the way it keeps me on my toes and makes me physically stronger as I deal with it. It's never going to be gone. I've come to accept it. But I also think after dealing with 120F+ (48C+) temperatures AND Bermuda grass and still managing to grow pretty well, I'm ready to face almost anything. Thanks again for an excellent video.

[@noreenmacuga1866]

10 years of trying to garden in North Ga. I have tried and tried to kill this grass! I even made raised beds inside a fenced garden put down black landscape fabric and black plastic! I creeps and grows underneath all of it! We tried burning it and chemical sprays ! It is so insidious and maddening! Thank you for your videos 😊

[@RedHotFiat]

I have never had a garden that didn't have some quack grass. We tried the Ruth Stout method back in the 70's and again in the 90's but the slugs in Western Washington were overwhelming. I lay down boards on either side of my rows of plants and pull up the grass in the slot in between keeping the grass away from the plants as much as possible. Not a perfect system but good enough for me. Great video by the way. Thanks.

[@dustinlight4716]

Thank you! This was very informative. In the Southwestern U.S. we have a similar grass called Bermuda Grass. Unfortunately, it's the preferred grass for lawns and it is everywhere. Trying to get a back yard garden going is difficult when this stuff will grow up through 8 inches of fresh dirt and mulch. Now that I know about Charles Dowding's method, I'll be doing a bit of a reset on my beds over the winter.

[@xingcat]

Super-interesting! I love seeing all the deep-dive info about gardening that I almost certainly won't use, but I'm so glad that people can share.

[@MyLevelheaded]

I like the tiring out method and what i found works is burning and smoldering the beds between seasons the nutrients are not lost and the stress of a weed burner on or at the pavers which surround raised beds is undeniable and inside the pavers is where you grow right! and seasonal digging turning and smoldering the soils wipes out the rhizomes first they dry but as the wood charcoals they burn completely the straws release carbon and the roots are decomposed quick into ash! these dry smoldering fires can be lightly stirred and can be reignited for days as the rhizomes are combed out after over wintering and before planting you have maximum depletion of nutrients and dry patchy residuals from dead plants are easily burned, they are like dry kindling and chafe...This changes your enemy grasses into nutrients for your seeds I call it advanced composting releasing years of nutrition with just a few fire lavers and spreading the ash your soils loosen til they are like baby powder and mulch over very well add some vinegar soaked dry eggshells and this soup is loaded with calcium and potassium throw the seed and mulch if weeds emerge ignore them or pull them and lay them over roots up they to will add their nutrition in due time! and the fire lavers roast out lime a great acid neutralizer you will notice the lime flecks mostly in the clays as they break down! at the end of this preplant roasting your first 3 to 6 inches of soils will be light and powdery with flecks of biochar and lime through out the soils and seeds soaked and presprouted take off like rockets i typically have corn ready to tassel out by mid-June and i live in northern Ohio! so throw the old attage knee high by the 4th of july out the window! no i love roasted soils and the weed burner in my garden plot and so by end of march you will see me with my lavers blazing as i warm over and roast all plants from the previous season! mulch to then after planting and watering i seal them up with straws again ! lace in my 2 liter watering bottles for adding water at the roots and as the season goes fill them with table scraps and water to act as fertile shoots when rains fade they are easily enough made with caps up and a unibit eroding the bottoms planted a few inches deep! If i do need to water i simply fill them up and replace the caps which are vented to allow the enriched water to flow into the soils! and as ruth stout says after planting leave the stuff alone and simply pick and eat or preserve...Life is busy enough with out making it to hard and well best use for witch grass is burning

[@antoinebellande6273]

Hi and thanks for this great video! We have loads of those in my area in France. My approach as a small scale veggie farmer is to rotate between mulched crop (like onions), tarped crops (squash) and roots (potato). With mulch, I just pull it up a bit when I see quack grass so that the leaf sinks underneath and it seems to slow down eventually. Tarp seems to kill quack grass more efficiently than hay, even though it has other drawbacks. We I harvest roots, I also dig out rhizomes. I'm only a beginner (my 3rd year) but I thought I'd share this. Cheers!

[@robertlunsford1350]

Even my raised beds were overtaken with quack grass this year. I will empty them soon and start over. It is a rough one. Thanks for the insight.

[@ellbow7287]

Same thing with my raised beds, they're a meter tall filled to 80cm and the rotten couch has come right up to the top . Very frustrating to have to empty them and start again but it's the only way to get rid of it.

[@sheshechic]

I've spent years with this monster. I tried everything. Unless your trench is actually a moat, it will make it across. It's been trying to get across my paved patio. This year we gave up on the area and let the other weeds compete. Our bermuda grass has never been less. Our solution to growing food is raised beds. It's been more than 8 years for the beds and the grass has not made it to the top. Although, sometimes I see some come through the gap between the bottom board and the next one up. My beds are at least 3 boards high. Good luck. ;)

[@maggiescalf5312]

Though we have combatted our Bermuda problem for the most part (with help of the chickens!) I am leaning towards raised beds as well. Going to try to deep mulch with straw still... but in beds. 🤷🏼‍♀️ If it also fails, I’ll still have my chickens. 😅

[@commonlaw5400]

This menace is in my neighbors lawn. After many years it made it's way into my landscaping. Got a bottle with a small nozzle and gave it a big drink of gasoline-many times. Slowed it down considerably.

[@paulsmart5199]

Great to see an upload. Miss the regular vids

[@BackToReality]

This one took a lot longer than usual, unfortunately... But I'm trying really hard to make them more frequent.

[@revelationsgoyl6939]

This is the most well done gardening video I've ever seen. By a large margin, actually.

[@TheEydaos]

This is how I deal with bindweed. Constantly pulling the plants as they grow until they eventually give up and die off.

[@JHaven-lg7lj]

If you have the time, try to find the places where the bindweed has rooted. It makes a wiggly, thickened node where it roots, and if you don’t dig that out it’ll come back from the node.

[@rvmush3883]

Glad that has worked for you. Really I am. Unfortunately our bindweed issues have ignored all attempts

[@noracharles80]

I like to think of myself as an organic gardener. But, there are a couple of exceptions - bindweed and crabgrass/quack grass. I take extra large freezer bags and coil up the bindweed and gently stick it in. I then carefully spray the coiled bindweed with a vegetation killer (being very careful to not spray anything else) and gently zip close the bag. I leave enough room for the stem to not be pinched by the bag. I stick the plastic bag under foliage or mulch as to not be seen. This really works. It is actually the only way I have been successful with full eradication of bindweed. For crabgrass/quack grass, I paint the green leaves (on a hot sunny day) with vegetation killer using a 1 inch paint brush. I make sure I have an old towel with several layers of paper towels to catch any drips to protect other plants and not contaminate the soil. I paint the entire stock. Ask me if I feel guilty. Not one bit! But, I like to do it when the neighbors are at work. 😉 Other than this, everything I do is organic.

[@danruinsfood4002]

Thanks for telling of the benefits of quackgrass. I'm learning about foraging for aomething new almost everyday, because in June everything is blooming, and so many wild edibles are easy to find!

[@tfrantastic]

Well done. I like the information and production value!

[@chance1986]

Very informative video. I once had a quackgrass infestation in a perennial bed. Year after year I removed as many rhizomes as I could find. But eventually, I had to dig out several perennials, remove rhizomes from their roots, and then replant them -- hopefully without any fragments. It eventually worked.

[@suzie2z]

Every time you place hay or straw on a garden you introduce any seed caught at harvest of the hay or straw. Example: barley hay produces barley. Wheat hay produces wheat. Hay produces alfalfa and grasses. Oh for a clean straw mulch! If you can find it, wonderful use. And then there is bind weed or wild morning glory. I’ve dug to at least 3 feet down to remove rhubarb and have found this grass rhizome that deep. Bind weed at 4 feet.

[@MountainGardenGirl]

Wonderful presentation and like many of your readers I suffer with this beast as well. My land is sloped in here in the mountains of W MD. To me it seems it follows the path of water, hence trenches were just a rain catch that carried this insidious pest along for a ride. Land is also always on the move especially on a slope. Considered this year trying a taller speed bump made of soil at the higher border of my bed covered with black plastic and buried deep as I can go in the back and deeper from the front. which on my rocky land is not that far sadly. Rocks hold moister and rhizomes kick in and follow the water.. Oh sure it will get moist but perhaps if I am diligent I will catch the crawl from behind. I really hate the idea of tilling and my neighbors who think I am crazy get a 5 0'clock shadow of this stuff in no time if they forget to go crazy tilling. So who is crazy. I am also experimenting with using baby pool with center cut out to form raised beds Many can be found at the dump. Yes watering is an issue and we carry water jugs here so no fun..but...definitely hinders violent overtakes nasty grassy. I have read that this grass can reach and crawl from 3 feet down in the soil. Would love to see a fb page dedicated to those of us that want to beat this enemy and all other garden crisis naturally. Have you considered starting one? Sorry this post is so long..but I loved Ruth Stout and just got so frustrated when this grass destroyed so many great plans. Thanks again for your great presentation and please consider starting a following. If for nothing else, the moral support would be awesome!

[@hesh2892]

There is a fir tree that is grown in many parts of australia. When the thin spiky leaves of the firs fall on ground...nothing grows there ! It is a great mulch. Somebody should mulch that tree and sell it in trailer loads to fight the couch grass ( trailerloads of pineleaf mulch might also work )

[@travelinthru9519]

Welcome back

[@BackToReality]

Thanks!! This video took.... forever. lol

[@DegrRobin]

I'm in the process of digging it up now in my sandy soil. Using a garden fork to loosen up the soil and then it comes out fairly easy. Although it is time consuming it does give me some hope that it will work. I have heard from the guys from the "agroforestry academy" that chickens can also do the work for you if you leave them on the land long enough. After the digging process I was planning to put a weed fabric vertically in the ground on the edge of the garden and plant lemongrass on the outer edge as a first barrier... It is a lot of work but probably worth it to establish a permanent no dig garden... So far, trying to smother it by mulching it, just made it stronger and heavily reduced my summer garden's succes..

[@chpbd]

Thanks for the very informative video. I am VERY interested in an update on how this "work in progress" with quackgrass is going. My struggle with this has been exhausting. When we first moved to our 9 acres, I built several raised beds using landscape fabric beneath. FAIL! Those sharp roots poked right thru. We removed all the soil (sifting for rhizomes), added 4 thick layers of cardboard and newspaper then added the soil back in. FAIL! These rhizomes will "run" back and forth horizontally amongst the cardboard until finally reaching the soil layer. Next, we tried....and then... So, basically we have been unable to successfully defeat the quack grass. Sorry to ramble but this has been the bane of my gardening experience. At one time, I had 60 raised beds of varying sizes. The Mrs finally told me she was OVER having to go thru each bed, each year, to try to defeat it.

[@weisemari]

Cheers from Germany. - Concerning quack grass, we say: It ‚cultivates‘ hard soils. You control it by simply pulling out, means: tear it off. There are several weeds that should better be controlled by pulling them superficiently but frequently: quack grass, goutweed, bindweed, field thistle, ivy, nettle, even dandelion… The principle is: Steal their green until their roots give up life without chlorophyll. It certainly helps if the garden lot is not too chaotic, and a good soft soil makes it easy. So fertilize your lot. Fun fact: In a time of famine, quack grass roots are edible.

[@etamonenciu7110]

Wow! Your videos are so top notch every time and such a pleasure to watch! Very informative and easy to understand! It's the things that I needed to grasp for our next step in the garden! Thank you for sharing the results of your hard work with us! It's such a blessing!

[@nickstraw1952]

While we have some couch grass, what gets my goat is common bindweed. After six years of following more or less the same programme as you, we are getting on top of it. We only had a couple of outbreaks, esaily dealt with. We are no dig, but use homemade compost rather than hay or straw, because we have lots of slugs... However, I have no compunction about digging out any bindweed, even at the cost of lost crops. You have to be Ruthless! Thanks for sharing.

[@jeshurunfarm]

THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS EXTREMELY VALUABLE INFORMATION. I live in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa and I have the same frustration. I'm just trying to be very vigilant with pulling it as soon as I see it. And as this is my first year do market gardening, I was hoping that this would tire out the grass and it will give up. So with new hope I'll continue pulling. Regards from Africa 🇿🇦

[@YSLRD]

I bought a house with a Bermuda grass lawn. My method is to turn the soil over about foot deep in dry weather and sift all the plant material out by hand. Then when it does crawl in, I keep a large serrated soil knife handy to carve it out. When it gets in the roses, I can only pluck and clip it back.

[@wk4240]

Hay - unlike cardboard layered to block light - often provides tiny pathways of light, enough for such vegetation (i.e. witch grass) to germinate and spread. It can be eliminated, by smothering it out - not pulling.

[@salvadorgutierrezbaelemans5014]

What you also could try to do at the borders is using concrete kerbs (about 100cm x 20cm high and 5 cm thick) which close off pavements. Its another barrier which make it harder to grown through for the roots. Good luck!

[@kelpc1461]

if you use a border of something like dicon radishes as a border plant, that might help too. something that is also "alopathic" but is easy to control. same with letting the other "weeds" that you mentioned grow in between the plots. also, it is usually a good idea to compost grass mulch before you use it. with "green manure" you generally want to be sure that you know exactly what plants you are mulching.

[@howtowithhank4791]

Hey! First of all... Huge fan of the channel!! Keep up the great videos and work! Have you thought about using a "living rhizome barrier"? This is how I see other permaculture practitioners dealing with this type of weed, usually by planting comfrey in a really dense row on the perimeter of the garden, the comfrey roots can grow dense enough to keep out the quackgrass!

[@howtowithhank4791]

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[@howtowithhank4791]

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[@CeciliaJulagay]

I've had quackgrass rhizomes burrow through a garden area several inches under the soil. It has also 'jumped' across a sidewalk by burrowing underneath the sidewalk.

[@Frumold]

Thanks for the insights Ruth Stout gave on plants with rhizomes. Im having a serious problem with mint (which also has rhizomes) and was searching for an non-chemical soltution. Now that I heard her advice I will try to bring the fight to the mint plants :D

[@jameskniskern2261]

Deprive the mint of water. If it dries out, it dies.

[@JerryB507]

For me it's Lemon Balm. My sister who lives in Tacoma,WA said it was great and an annual. I'm in Zone 9A and it's now entered into the category of an invasive weed. Lesson learned, no matter how much you love your sibling, do your own [expletive deleted] research on local growing conditions for a particular plant.

[@KiMoKo9787]

I agree, pop off and burn the flowers and seed heads, deprive it of water, or dig it up and let it dry out and itll die. My potted mint refuses to die unless i do those things lol

[@annjones3672]

Hello! I can't say I have had problems with Quackgrass but I have problems with Dollar weed. Same type of spreading method and nothing can stop it. I just live with it and pull it up when I see it. We also have nut grass. Oh Lord but it is a pain! When you pull it, if you don't get the little "nut" it just comes back. Both Dollar weed and Nut grass can go through any amount of mulch. Oh well. Good gardening!

[@cassieoz1702]

There are lots of types of rhyzomatous grasses. My nemesis is kikuyu which is good summer pasture but a nightmare in cultivated areas. Ive found it will punch up through cardboard or thick newspaper too

[@Zepman84]

This is a very informative and well-made video. Subscribed!

[@lpforever6273]

One suggestion: we need to find a way to extract those nutrients back from the weeded out rhizomes and roots so that the filching of so much soil nutriment is not made worse by removal. I would think a big batch of the quack grass rhizomes dumped into a water butt and kept submerged for a few weeks (à la comfrey tea) should make a good tonic for the garden and the problem can become a resource (even if an odorous one).

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

In reading about another invasive plant, buttercups, I learned that (short of spraying poisons) the quickest way by far to kill the roots is to pull them and drown them for a couple weeks just as you described. Apparently the rhizomes can remain viable up to two years in absence of light and composting them normally doesn't kill them off. But once they've been drowned you can compost them safely. Anyway, a couple of the articles on that also recommended using that leftover water as a fertilizer tea as you described. So I think you might really be on to something there.

[@millermdiehl]

Thank you for this video. I have this grass all over my garden. I’m getting hay from the farmer up the street. I have so many weeds. I’m starting to get discouraged and even though I didn’t get on this last fall I’m going to start anyway.

[@argentvixen]

Your parting thoughts in this video are the reason you'll succeed. Not in weed control as it were but in system design and plentiful harvest. Appreciating nature's mechanisms for abundance is the key to long term sustenance.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

I read the title and thought you must have been watching my videos and would give me a solution! My weed #3 would be stinging nettles, and they are just as bad as the quack grass. In a sense, quack grass CAN "jump" a trench. Actually it will grow it's rhizome downward to follow the base of the trench. Also, the rhizomes will stay alive as long as they are connected to the grass outside the plot. So long term cover will not kill it. There is a modified version of the trench however. Since the rhizome grows just beneath the soil surface it can be cut by pushing a hedging spade into the soil. All around the entire area you want to keep the quack grass out of, cut a line, at least 4 inches down, on a regular basis. This will cut the rhizomes life support from outside the plot, preventing that direction of invasion. Then you can cover the grass and rhizomes in the plot to starve them of energy and/or remove them directly.

[@ladyofthemasque]

Stinging nettles are incredibly nutrient-rich, with 40% protein content, the highest content of any edible plant that I know of. They are rendered edible and pretty fantastic when cooked (wilted over a campfire, stir-fried or sautéed, boiled in a soup or a stew, etc), but you can also dehydrate them to de-sting them, and then you can powder and use them in smoothies, soups, gravies, stews, etc. This is what I do with stinging nettles, dandelions, and other "weeds" encroaching into my garden spaces--I remove them, yes, but I preserve the nutrients in their dried leaves, and keep myself & my family healthier for it.

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

@@ladyofthemasque they are also invasive here. You wouldn't eat as much as grows here.

[@missednoahsarc2654]

We have invasives so I get the struggle/fight but nettles makes great tea!!!

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

@@missednoahsarc2654 maybe I will try nettle tea come spring.

[@missednoahsarc2654]

@@ecocentrichomestead6783 I hope you do! In my area there are a lot of off grid families and I remember asking one of the children I taught riding lessons to what their favorite meal was (they were also vegan) and he said nettle soup but he didn't like collecting the leaves. My initial reaction was surprise but now like him I love them but hate collecting the leaves lol