Smothering Rhizomatous Grass with a Tarp (results after A FULL YEAR)

[@SurefireWoodsman]

So many "how to" videos show people telling what they intend to do, not what they have actually tried. I love the fact you showed the results of a tested process rather than pretending to be an expert prior to knowing the actual result.

[@AmelieHarms]

Yes, this is why I love this channel.

[@TheEmbrio]

If people are upfront about what they are trying and that they aren’t experts i’m ok with it. But yes, long terme experiments with results do teach us more.

[@wadebacca]

Yes! I had terrible quackgrass last year, so much so that I also just cut my losses on a large section of my yard. I 1st dug a 6 inch deep trench around the perimeter of the garden, as apparently the rhizomes air prune. I then put a silage tarp for the entire growing season. In the spring I put my chickens on the area for the entire spring until last frost (may 24) the chickens seemed to till up all the rhizomes to the surface where I either raked them away or the fried in the sun. I’m incredibly pleased with that result. So much so I’m duplicating it this year on another portion where I’m putting the chickens on an area then moving them after a month, putting down fresh sheep bedding and tarping for months then bringing the chickens back in, I’m rotating 3 areas like this.

[@BackToReality]

Your success give me hope!! We don't have chickens, and the wild turkeys don't stay put long enough to help. So unfortunately, we've had to dig them out by hand for hours (and hours, and hours). But so far, it seems to be working. Fingers crossed!

[@ovidiumagdo6718]

Hello, I used a tarp and I dug a ditch 6 inch deep arounds. The rhizome will not pass the ditch and I left the tarp more then 8 months. Another way for small beds is to remove all the soil up to 6 inch depth, sifted and remove all rhizomes. After dug a 6 inch depth ditch around the bed so the other rhizomes will not passing to your bed.It is a lot of work but had best results in short time.

[@NewYorkJennifer]

Yep! Go for the tarp! I've been using them for quite a few years. I rotate areas of the garden and it will kill quack over a hot summer. Another way to use tarps in the garden is in the very early spring to cover beds for a few weeks to kill annual weeds. Take the tarp off when you plant. Fold the tarps back into the paths to keep them weed free in the summer. Keep the tarps whole, don't plant through them, as you found out. You may have to let these garden areas that are tarped be fallow for a year, but to get rid of quack, it's worth it to me. Congrats on the good looking garden! Victory is sweet!

[@michelleprull4105]

Don’t forget that those tarps work very well for slip n slides

[@BackToReality]

That may be our plan for next summer!! :)

[@pattipostcard8489]

Excellent video! We also have quack grass and other horrible weeds in our yard. We've tried various methods to get rid of it. Our recent experiment involved covering a large area with thick tarps for two years. It worked well. We didn't check the area after the first year, so I don't know if it would have been ready then. We live in Canada, too, and the initial tarps started to shred after the first year, so we had to put another layer of tarps on top. (Definitely not ideal in terms of plastic.)

[@GenieBright]

When you lifted the tarps, (if you didn’t tarp your whole property) how did you keep the quack from just invading and devouring the cleared space at lightning speed. We are considering covering 1 acre approx that is over taken - in order to save the remaining bit of lawn. We are overwhelmed . Did you dig a trench around the tarped area to prevent the rhizimes from spreading?

[@pattipostcard8489]

@@GenieBright I use black plastic edging around every garden space: it's 5 inches high and most of it goes below the ground level. This isn't a perfect fix but it helps. There's another garden area, which we started by laying down a thick layer of newspaper (11 pages thick), & covered with good soil & a thick layer of wood chip mulch. I can't remember if I waited 1 or 2 years to plant into that one (not all of the newspaper degraded & I had to remove some by hand, from underneath. Not fun.) In one stretch of that garden, I have some flowering plants that are close to the plastic garden edging: these plants are too dense to allow me to apply mulch, but not so dense that they block out the grass from coming up from outside, so I'm going to have to dig those plants out & just cover that initial 6-12 inches next to the edging with mulch. It's important to weed-whack around the edging promptly, which I wasn't able to do this year, and that might also be partly to blame. However, the grass hasn't been infiltrating to that extent anywhere else in that very long garden, so I suspect it's the lack of sufficient mulch so close to the "lawn." Any trench I dig, without using the edging, is immediately covered in weeds, unless it's completely filled in with mulch. You don't have to use plastic edging -- I only use it because it's all I can afford. You have to have a barrier, though. Deeper than 5" would be ideal but that's the best I can manage. Keep in mind that you have to use the thick tarps: the grass will grow through the cheap blue ones, even with a 12" pile of mulch on top (this was an accidental experiment while waiting to relocate some mulch in an uncleared area of the yard). We had grass roots growing up out of the ground, then travelling up to 5' (5 feet), while weaving itself in and out of the white underside of the cheap blue tarps, until it found a weak spot where it could break through. It might be a good idea to start with a smaller area to see how it goes; we tarped a back corner in a square-off kind of L-shape, 20' from the corner in one direction, 20' from the corner in the other direction. I'm in Ontario, Canada, and the sun, wind and snow started to shred the expensive tarps after 1 year. Although not ideal, it might be easier & faster to create a concrete barrier in the form of a walkway around the area that you want to keep clear; you could still work on killing the quack grass over time. Good luck!

[@SusanA1056]

We put cardboard over our lawns with bricks on top. After a couple months we were able to remove the cardboard, rake and break up the soil under the cardboard and reseed. Of course this was just for our city lot sized lawn.

[@michellebyrom6551]

I've been fighting this stuff for years here in Northern Ireland. I put down my old lounge carpet at one point across what should have been a lawn. Left it for a couple of years as I focussed on attacking other areas. I've used heavy duty black weed suppressant fabric too. Both work. I still go a few inches down to handpull any remaining roots. They go dormant, not dead I'm afraid. Being on my hands and knees every year has my neighbours convinced I'm demented. I've noticed though, that the more I do it, not only is the couchgrass weaker, but there's a lot less of it in the ground than a few weeks of heavy rain (wet climate and clay soil don't allow sustained campaigns) and a growth spurt would lead uou to expect. I've encouraged existing mosses to take over instead. No mowing, no maintenance beyond pulling new bits of couchgrass and no competition for the plants I add. Would I have started this in a bigger garden knowing it would take a long decade? Hmm. Fence to fence concrete looks goid at this time of year, I've heard.

[@ContactsNfilters]

Try white clover as a cover crop.

[@GenieBright]

I love the mosses and creeping and flowering foliage around our property very much. But as our quack grass infestation progresses like wild fire, I notice it’s getting into the beautiful moss and ground cover. I am terrified it will kill it all if we don’t tarp every bit of it - about an acre at this point. We feel overwhelmed. Did the quack end up overtaking your lawn areas?

[@tulasu6664]

Sure love this channel and look forward to every update! I'm another Canadian gardener who fought quack grass and won with a black tarp. Like wadebacca, I dug a trench around the area to cover and then left the tarp on for a full year. After removal, we heavily mulched every year with rotted sawdust that was available for free and never had a problem with quack grass within the perimeter of the garden again. For 3 years I expanded the garden with another spanse of tarp until the garden was the desired size. Since we had a 'lawn' surrounding 3 sides of the garden, we dug out the trench about 10" deep and wide both spring and fall as maintenance, but seemed well worth the effort to to keep the quack grass at bay.

[@GenieBright]

Is your entire lawn also quack grass? Have you learned to live with it? We have a few raised beds but our infestation of quack grass is rapidly taking our entire lawn which was so pretty with different grasses and foliage. I find the quack hurts my head to look at it- it’s so chaotic - Don’t know if we will ever find enough plastic or cardboard to cover the 1-2 acres, though.

[@MeliponiculturaenCostaRica]

Amazing, congratulations!, Glad you finally covered the walking areas, they are the worst for spreading weeds! Since I did it here I came from having full beds of weeds to just pulling 4-5 weeds per each vegetable plant planted every square foot.

[@BackToReality]

We resisted it for a number of years. I really liked the idea of natural paths. But in the end... the quackgrass won. So far, things seem to be MUCH easier now that they're covered.

[@MeliponiculturaenCostaRica]

@@BackToReality And actually they promote healthier soil with all the new organic matter over them, the worms and other critters disperse those nutrients everywhere. Also what I like to do on the fence is to have a 50-60cm tall flat galvanized metal sheet on it so grass doesn't cross the border of the garden nor any grass seed from machine mowing it enters the field. Those are also 10cm below the ground to prevent any creeper weeds to enter, as quackgrass is!

[@VeganPrepper]

We are giving up the war with Bermuda over here in AZ. We're moving to beds raised up off the ground which hurts my heart because I had dreams of a beautiful natural permaculture oasis, but there is no way to keep the Bermuda out. (It's also not natural to the area, so we're having to come up with unnatural solutions to an unnatural problem.) Now to see if the beds will still retain their water during the hottest parts of our summer. Thank you as always for the great content. You were giving me flashbacks to the last bit of weeding I did through a bed. That stuff looks SO MUCH like Bermuda grass underground it's crazy.

[@kurtparent]

When we moved from our maritime Pacific coast space to a Continental garden our #1 goal was to leave these weeds behind. But they were literally everywhere we looked, and worse, were being used as grass alternatives (these are officially sedges not grasses) due to their drought tolerance. We tried this season using clear plastic to solarize the space we intended to garden, and it for sure helped reduce the volume. But anywhere that got irrigated and wasn't regularly weeded (such as the edge of overflowing melon or cucumber beds) the sedges grew like mad. There is no worse invader than these beasts. I think we'll have to consider rotating out of a space and solarizing it every other Summer in an effort to keep it at bay.

[@GenieBright]

Did it also take over your land (yard)? It’s taken over 1-2 acres of our land in less than 2 years (came in on top soil used to re-seed our destroyed property). If so, have you just learned to live with it?

[@khanoclast]

The grass invaders I deal with here have long deep taproots, kinda like dandelions. If you leave any of the taproot behind, the grass is coming up later. I have two beds I covered with at least a foot of grass clipping mulch last fall, and the weeds just laughed at me... On the solarization aspect, we have some cold frames we use for wintering over some of our plants. We've recently pulled them out to try an experiment: We are using them like mini-composters. When we pull the weeds, we dump them, roots and all, in the cold frames, then close the lid. The sun bakes them throughout the day, killing the roots. We hope to be left with some usable compost -- or at least some usable mulch -- by the start of fall when the garlic goes back in.

[@BackToReality]

I hear ya about the weeds just laughing at you. Sigh. I like the sounds of your experiment. Please let us know how it turns out! Making compost is something that we've not been able to spend much time on yet (we do it, but not on a large scale), so I'm eager to learn more!

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

Very encouraging. Thank you for taking the time to document this!

[@KTplease]

I always thought it was Bermuda grass invading my garden with endless rhizomes (middle TN zone 7) but now I think it may actually be quackgrass! I’ve had a tarp down for a few months, so hopefully we have the same success!

[@BackToReality]

I wish you luck! Please report back once you peel it back!

[@RhodeToPrepping]

I thought it was Bermuda gas’s that was our bane too. Guess I need to recheck this again.

[@KTplease]

@@BackToReality Well, the tarp did the trick! After being down for 8 months, it killed ALL the surface grass/weeds AND about 90% of the underground rhizomes! The dirt is dark and friable, easily combed by hand. Here’s an interesting find: the few places with live roots were located under CARDBOARD that was under the tarp. My theory is that the cardboard protected the rhizomes and kept them moist. Areas covered by ONLY tarp were completely dead. Huh! Guess cardboard “lasagna” mulching isn’t a good thing for grass like this!

[@BackToReality]

@@KTplease That is a REALLY interesting observation! Thanks for sharing that tidbit. We'll have to keep an eye out for any differences with cardboard under the tarp here as well! Thanks, also, for coming back to update us on your results 8 months later. We really appreicate it!

[@Emkay6]

It may be that what Americans call bermuda, other countries call quack grass. Because what I call quack grass is a very easy grass to pull up and does not have rhizome spreading roots. We have bermuda invading all over our garden and it has those evil rhizome roots.

[@saethman]

Spending a full year only to play dare-devil to see if the rhyzomes were dead or not? Love it

[@tulasu6664]

Same reaction!

[@Chet_Thornbushel]

Definitely my arch nemesis. In fact we are excavating our entire front yard right now because we transitioned it to a perennial food and pollinator garden and the quack grass just took over like we made the garden especially for it! Unfortunately tarpons isn’t an option because of how much perennial plantings we had in the space. Fingers crossed we dig down deep enough to get rid of the root network and can start the garden again with a blank slate.

[@BackToReality]

Ugh, I'm really sorry to hear that! We definitely feel your pain though. This stuff is just brutal. I tend to flip flop between pure hatred and overwhelming respect. I'm incredibly impressed with how well it does what it does... I just wish it would do it somewhere else.

[@nickcpv]

It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Sin caused all this. But there is hope in Jesus Christ. Soon this will be over. “To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:17-19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

[@Chet_Thornbushel]

@@nickcpv very interesting folklore there.

[@nickcpv]

@@Chet_Thornbushel Yes, it’s interesting, but it’s not folklore. Keep reading. We don’t have much time left here. God bless.

[@messyhomestead7320]

How are you doing this? I have very dense grasses and (sadly these will be sacrificed) native forageables, but because of the ferocity of the grasses and my inability to mow anymore, I need to take out the whole lawn. I cannot find large tarps to do this (don't love the plastic either but couldn't find anyone to smother with cardboard for me) and I'm not sure what to do. Your advice would be very welcome - thanks :)!

[@jillhoward1452]

I'm looking forward to your video on saw dust paths. I currently have wood chip paths inherited from the previous owner but I'd love something I could walk on in bare feet.

[@rashonryuu]

My experience with sawdust is that if it gets wet and compacts (snow in particular managed this), then it kinda glues together and makes a solid mass. I could jump on it and see nearly a 3ft by 3ft area shudder as one. While it would be more comfortable than woodchips, it did get very hard. It also kinda glued to the bottom of my shoes. Over time they got heavy! Dunno if feet would have that problem. Unfortunately, the bindweed burrowed up from below as if it weren't there, but bind weed does that to asphalt around here so I wasn't surprised. Back to Reality will have a much better explanation of their experiences than mine... But it might be a while before they upload. So here's a bit about my experience.

[@vikingbeard]

Thanks for another interesting and enjoyable video. I love that you share your mistakes, it makes it more authentic and valuable. Your soil looks amazing. I dealt with the quack grass (and dock/nettle) in another way, spending 5 min every day walking through the garden cutting off the weed sprouts growing through the mulch. The nettle and dock gave up quickly, but the quack grass needed several months of cutting. In total spent probably 10 hours or so, so nothing compared to the 1000 hours or so collecting/spreading mulch haha.

[@stans5270]

Perhaps use the tarp with a bucket with its bottom cut out used as a barrier against the quackgrass from mixing with the roots of your crop. I can't imagine that the rhizomes from the quackgrass go deeper than 6 inches into the soil.

[@escapepatch]

Same issue here in Colorado. Not sure if the bindweed or the quack grass is my "favourite" garden weed. I really enjoy your videos, thanks for taking such care, and time, to make them. Although the quack grass you pulled out of the oregano may give me nightmares...😵‍💫 Aaaan...Happy Canada Day! Have a beer for we transplanted Canadians who are far from home. Cheers! 🍁😀

[@BackToReality]

Thanks so much, I'm really glad you enjoy our videos :) And yeah, I have nightmares about this stuff too. lol Happy Canada Day to you too!! I hope you find a way to celebrate as well! :)

[@talkwithtiffanychannel]

Thank you for experimenting and sharing your results!

[@BackToReality]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching! :)

[@Blackhuf]

Hey, I am happy for you, that you got your problem under control :) Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

[@BackToReality]

Thanks Blackhuf! :)

[@acdcacres]

Ugh, same problem here in Manitoba! I tried cardboard, but that didn't cut it. I'll have to try the black tarp method and see. However, it does have its benefit for our animals- the geese love it, so I've been letting them graze certain areas of the garden where there are raised beds and they can't get at the veggies. As well, I pull it out for the rabbits. Outside of the garden, the goats are really keeping it at bay in other areas- saves cutting it and free feed!

[@BackToReality]

I think you've hit the right idea. If you can't kill it, try to find a use for it! We don't have any animals, and so far rhizome tea has been "just ok". But someday I would love to find a use for it that solves some other problem we have. But until then...

[@messyhomestead7320]

Same here - in Texas the cardboard really is not doing the job because plenty of nutrients, water etc. still get in there.

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

As far as this grass that spreads through rhizomes, does anyone know how to tell which one you have... quackgrass, bermuda, etc.? I live in central Michigan, zone 4. We've gotten as cold as -22°F in winter and as high as the upper 90's in the summer (with, like, 95% humidity also!). We pretty much live on a pile of sand as far as our soil goes. Between this dang grass and voles, I'm about ready to give up! I'm a new subscriber and have only had time to watch a few of your videos, but every one I've watched has been so great! You put a lot of effort in communicating what you want to get across and it definitely shows! Just as I'm thinking of a question, you seem to answer it in your next sentence! I also love your clear, and funny, animations. Great job!

[@nefariousyawn]

Very informative, thanks for the update! I like the idea of reusing a commercial farmer's trash, not something I would have thought about. Another channel that I follow is Red Gardens, and they recently made a quick video about weed control using homemade tools. There's something that I find really satisfying about others' garden pest control methods.

[@BackToReality]

Oh awesome, thanks for the tip. I enjoy his videos as well, so I'll be sure to check it out!

[@messyhomestead7320]

Agreed - I hated the idea (and expense) of buying fresh plastic, and I live in a rural area. I don't know any farmers but maybe a call to 4H or something...

[@hermittherob7056]

I feel your pain. I used to have this problem too until a few years ago I started using smother and cover tactics in my no-till, specifically for rhizomatous plants (grass, vetch and sheep sorrel). You've covered everything and are spot on with it (and it can take two growing seasons to ensure root death for the strongest roots). The only addition I have made is to put in a permanent perimeter barrier at the beginning of the smothering process as roots underneath can be sustained by still being attached to plants outside the cover. This was a great, well presented video.

[@GenieBright]

Any ideas for a permanent perimeter barrier? We have about an acre infestation. Did you have to dig a trench, I wonder?

[@messyhomestead7320]

Thanks for this. I was wondering that!

[@hermittherob7056]

@@GenieBright In my garden I had just dug a narrow trench and used wide lawn edging. Now "upgrading" to old vinyl siding trimmed down and screwed to a "lip" of replaceable 2x2 lumber or small tree saplings for wheelbarrows and walking on. It's cheap/free and will last a good 20 years.

[@susanstrickland6774]

Always enjoy seeing you two. Ugh that grass. I definitely think you're on to getting rid of it. I grew tired of trying. I went to a farmer that had 55 gallon poly drums that stored honey, and sanitizer for dairy cow teats. We got 9, cut them in half long way, drilled holes along the lower two sides, and sanitized them. Long, short.. problem of weeds gone, and we are using way less water. Have had the best garden in 20 years. I commend you guys for taking the challenge of that garden enemy. Thanks for another excellent video. 🙂👍

[@SkepticalShrink]

Damn that quackgrass!

[@BackToReality]

Ugh, tell me about it!

[@NettieScraps]

Hi! In Australia I use a product called weed gunnel. It lets air and water through and is degradable. (If you leave it in place it will apparently break down harmlessly after 5 or 6 years). I covered an area of weedy lawn with it for 12 months and it completely killed off couch grass, dandelions etc. I lifted it off the area I treated, which I then mulched with about 4 inches of medium grade pine bark (it's an ornamental area) and I have had zero weed problems there, over a year later. In stark contrast, the area right beside it, which I initially covered with cardboard and pine bark, is still suffering with couch and other perennial weeds. (I'm about to 'weed gunnel' this area too). Since then however, I have also used it as a barrier underneath birdies type raised beds. I also plonked a long mound of compost on a length of it last year and grew potatos. I'm about to completely kill our shockingly weedy lawn by applying it for the next 12 months, and then we will get some nice (non couch!) turf. I don't know if you have an equivalent there in the US?

[@messyhomestead7320]

What are its ingredients? Thank you.

[@HickorycroftFarm]

Another great video! we have this problem with mint lol. It is everywhere on our property and although we do hate to try to kill it, we can only transplant so much and .... as you know with these types of plants, the more you pull it out the more it grows back. We may have to try the tarp method as we are near kingstom/brockville, so similar climate and therefor I am sure it would be a similar die off time. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@angelcosta4383]

I feel you too. I have both peppermint and quackgrass all over the place and I have basically given up by now.

[@connorhus]

Use metal roofing panels on two year rotations especially for your walk paths but you can also leave a space between panels to grow veggies as well. I wouldn't recommend cutting holes in the panels but I will assure you after two years no weeds will penetrate them. You can add mulch on top of the panels if you want to cut the heat under them down somewhat. I actually use a three year rotation on my walk path panels and grow a number of pole beans with panels on the ground in between cattle panels as trellis. Eventually you will kill the rhizome weeds down enough with this rotation and impenetrable roofing panels to be free of it as a real problem. You can also build your garden area in the middle of smallish grazing paddocks. Allow livestock like goats or sheep to graze those surrounding paddocks down frequently which will always keep the rhizome weeds in a semi-starved state and stop them from spreading under the fence to your garden areas.

[@BlushingRoseDiaries]

I’m going to try this because the grass pokes through the tarp when it weakens

[@messyhomestead7320]

By 2yr rotations do you mean leave it on the spot for two years before taking it up? I appreciate the idea and want to make sure I do it right, thank you!

[@jim_no_rulers]

Thanks for sharing your progress! I had natural paths last year too, and spent a week or so, "re-edging," them last spring. I created a nice pile of sod/soil that I removed and covered it with a tarp, then decided that was the last time I wanted to do that. The soil that was the sod became a really nice pile of topsoil, but it has some seeds in it that germinate when I've used it as potting mix. I picked up a good pile of neighbors leaf bags last fall and slit them open on the sides to lay them out as a paper barrier as well as to spread the leaves, (etc.,) out on the paths. So far I've had to find and add some extra paper and mulch for much of the edges, where the beds meet the paths, but the grass, (along with sheep sorrel, creeping charlie, wood sorrel, yarrow, and others,) seems to be fading.

[@cindycalvert4875]

I have the same problem with Bermuda grass. My first shot was to use a double layer of cardboard with a thick layer of wood chip mulch on top, and that worked well for most of the garden. However, here are still little patches where it has grown through. I’m really glad that the tarp worked so well for you! I may give it a try!

[@tinkeringinthailand8147]

I have a major problem with this type of grass here on my small farm in Thailand. I dug a lot of it out but trying to do this on 3/4 of an acre is hard work, so I have recently covered most of my land with weed matting and it seems to be doing the job, slowly. great vid, thanks for sharing 🙏🙏

[@justintr4888]

I've encountered some grass rhizomes in my own yard while digging since buying my house last year; you guys weren't kidding when you said they can get sharp!

[@katiew8511]

I used a roofing tarp left over from a remodel. Worked great!

[@g.y.o5419]

Bermuda Grass/Quack Grass/Couch Grass - I think it's all the same thing, but just called different things in different parts of the world. My most successful way of getting rid of it is to tarp it until all the top growth is gone and you are left with bare soil, then dig out all the roots. It makes it so much easier to deal with.

[@deanyanko3326]

on reclaiming quack grass infested former pasture, I mowed short continuously and good turf grass took over. turned over garden plots with turf between rows to mow. put down old hay with black plastic on top for a neglected plot to mulch we'll see how it works out. Got to grow your own with the good earth.

[@snfow]

Have started using a silage tarp, will use a venetian blind cleaning brush, like a pair of tongs, with wick covers, dipped into a solution of glyphosate, & apply directly to leaves, if needed. It works well, best applied in Autumn when lots of root growth.

[@mallowmarsh420]

Brother and I opaque tarped a plot of thick quackgrass. Only for the winter tho. When we pulled it back in spring the quackgrass had taken over. It just went ahead and set more rhizomes with the heat from the sun. We used a roto tiller to wind it up and get rid of some, and then manual hand work of digging and pulling. ....its not gone, but we made solid progress

[@whereswendy8544]

I have both quack grass and bindweed here on Vancouver Island and I found the tarp method works pretty well on the grass but not the bindweed. I have to keep pulling at it every day. I pull the roots of both, let them dry in the sun and then BURN them.

[@jennifersmith5818]

Very informative video; glad it came up on my suggested videos. We deal with something called crab grass that grows the same way. It is invasive and very hard to get rid of and makes the worst stickers. Unfortunately, our property is small and shared with our neighbor (and I don't think I can get away with tarping our yard). We just let the crabgrass, clover, and dandelion have its way. Thanks again and take care.

[@BackToReality]

Thanks Jennifer, I'm really glad you enjoyed it! We do the same in our lawn. It all looks mostly the same once it's mowed, so as long as it's green, it stays ;) But in the garden... ugh. It's definitely overstayed it's welcome (though, if it could, I'm sure it would be thinking the same of us at this point lol).

[@ladyofthemasque]

Thank you for this update! I had been wondering about your quack grass issues. It's good to know that the tarp method does seem to work, if given enough time.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Great video. It’s such a problem here in New England as well.

[@thenextpoetician6328]

Zone 4a. Converted a bunny enclosure to a garden for the chickens in the adjoining enclosure. The soil was bare to start. A couple of stumps got pulled, the ground was leveled, and I made rows. If I had left it at that, it would have been about 100% quack grass. Where I planted a ridiculous quantity of lettuce for the chickens, the weeds basically are a minor nuisance. Everywhere else I ended up skimming 3-4' off the top and tossing it to the chickens, because it takes nothing to get them to have a party. I spread compost on top about as thick. The weeds are easier to deal with. The neighbor has a saw mill. When we finally find the time, we'll haul loads of sawdust over for the cows for winter, and the garden paths. There's no shortage of silage tarp in a reasonably tidy pile.

[@penguinistas]

Thank you for sharing. I have used sheets of black plastic to kill off weeds and unwanted vegetation in the past. I live in Ohio so perhaps where you live in Canada does not get enough sunlight to kill off the vegetation. I left the black plastic bare and found that a few warm sunny days was sufficient to kill pretty much everything but I was not killing quack grass. Thank you,

[@messyhomestead7320]

Where are you getting large enough swaths of this to do that job for a whole lawn? Thank you so much.

[@bonniebon7335]

In case anyone is wondering, Bermuda is best handled in this manner. It's the easiest way. It takes about this long depending on your climate. In my hot summers, it takes 8 months of light seclusion AND weakening of main plants by digging occasionally. But once it's done, it's done. I recommend leaving a 2 foot walkway around the perimeter of the garden because Bermuda will send runners into the clean areas. The 2 feet gives plenty of time to tend to the garden before the gardener can come back and weed the runners out. Horrible stuff, but it can be done.

[@kgarden8960]

Where we cut an X to put in a plant (e.g. Squash - which spreads well over the top of the Tarp, so we get a crop whilst killing the weeds :) ) I use a square of old carpet to block out the light. Cut a "+" in the carpet with one slits reaching all the way to the side, slip around the plant, and just make sure that the plant will have enough strength to push the carpet when the stem expands. We especially use this for hedge plants where the Tarp / Plastic mulch is permanent but weeds still want to come up around each plant

[@allday00]

Great video thanks. It is such a problem so good to see different ideas

[@AnthonySparta]

Dude, you look great! Hardly even recognizable when compared to your earlier videos.

[@TheEmbrio]

Very informative, pro graphics. I realy enjoy your channel !

[@michaelginever732]

In Australia we don't have quackgrass but rhizomatous grasses like couch can be a problem. Here people grow it as lawn. I don't think we should have lawns in our residential gardens any longer, but that's another subject. Once the runners leave the lawn it's a disaster just like you describe. Plastic sheet is an answer, but no slits for oregano or anything else. No gaps at all. The larger the unbroken tarp the better. In the past because we were dealing with relatively small lawns and so we have dug it up manually. We shake out the dirt and just keep on going if any grass reappears above the surface we dig down and find the offending source and remove it until eventually it's all gone. Then there's next door's bloody lawn. Where there's a solid fence that goes down 450-500mm into the ground, no problem. In our current house we inherited a couple of oleanders growing in the verge (no fence) right up to the neighbour. They appear to prevent anything from growing around them so next door's grass stays over there and we are grass free.

[@Jacksparrow4986]

Nicely solved and videoed, as always :-)

[@BackToReality]

Thank Jack! I'm really glad you enjoyed it!

[@dispmonk]

I’ve got the same problem but with Horsetail.

[@BackToReality]

Sorry to hear that :( Have you found any viable solutions for it yet?

[@dispmonk]

@@BackToReality Not really. Likewise I realized that my pathways were allowing it back into my beds. I did tarps and weed barrier this year. I’m gonna leave some until summer next year. However, in a few areas I let the tarp sit for about four months and they were pretty much void of vegetation. The soil became very loose and I was able to pull out a majority of the whole roots easily. Which gave me enough time to actually grow some spring crops before the beds were taken over again. I think ultimately the tarps and my chickens will be the solution- as long as I maintain the pathways as well. I’ve been trying for about five years without tarps so I’m hopeful except for the simple fact that horse tails spreads by spores… and I got a whole acre next to my garden. 🤪

[@dispmonk]

@@BackToReality also you didn’t lose out by not using the clear tarp. I did a three-year experiment (unintentional) with a full sheet of polycarbonate. And I’m on the Washington state Canadian border it killed the grass just like normal tarp. As soon as I took it off everything just grew be right back.

[@nancyarchibald9095]

I am struggling with this nasty weed too. It has inundated a once beautiful, VERY productive patch of Raspberries. The crab grass has survived 2 thick applications of Casaron and multiple diggings by hoe, pitchfork & spade. Today, I plan to go out and snip all the tall blades before they drop their seeds then use a twisting claw to expose and loosen the rhizomes. . ("Once seeding, 7 years weeding") July is when the berry harvest begin. Like you said, a meager harvest is better than NO harvest.

[@lujitsu1251]

I have quackgrass in my Blueberry patch . I’m Just wondering if I use tarps if it would kill my blueberries too? I can’t see how my blueberries would get enough water. Ideas?

[@joniboulware1436]

Everyone that complains about the price of food, or the mass production methods of battling the elements should just try growing a bit on their own. It isn't a cakewalk.

[@sietuuba]

I wonder if black tarp covered by a transparent tarp wouldn't be even more effective by raising the ground temperature underneath even further, or faster, or at least enable solarization in cooler climates thanks to more layers to preserve the gained heat better. Good absorption of the solar energy plus "a greenhouse" layer to keep it in... if the temperature could be raised enough and at deep enough depth to matter. The seed bank might not get entirely wiped out but perhaps rhizomes could? Oh and I sure hope landfills go out of fashion everywhere if they haven't already. Plastics are just oil in long chains, at least tarps and such are for the most part, and burn just fine in a waste incinerating power plant yielding electrical energy and heat for industry or district heating. No such thing as waste, just resources left in the wrong place. Unless it's stuff like asbestos or heavy metals of course...

[@chrisholdread174]

We don't have quack grass here in New Mexico, we have Bermuda, which is just as much a pain. Spreads through rhizomes into every crack it can find. But the soil is such crap quality for gardening that I built raised beds. A high quality weed barrier and the boxes being 2 feet deep from ground to top and thankfully that grass cant get through.

[@melsolomon8256]

I always look forward to you videos

[@davem.7141]

Hey Derrick, yesterday I was out in the garden fighting rhizomatous grass that I’ve been dealing with since purchasing my small farm on the Olympic Peninsula, WA 5 years ago. I just covered up a 2000 sq ft area with repurposed 6 mil black plastic to smother the grass (part of that area is where my new high tunnel greenhouse will go). I stopped for lunch and turned on KZbin and your video on rhizomatous grasses pops up. Hmmm, does KZbin read my mind now??? I’d never seen your video content till now. It’s nice to see your year-long results. I also saw your earlier video on the grasses. Good info. Ruth Stout is amazing! Are wireworms an issue for you? Huge problem here.

[@cristiewentz8586]

We keep a tilled border around the garden to stop the rhizome invasion. The spring has us tilling the garden as deeply and possible, raking the rhizome up each time. That makes an appreciable dent, then we can dig out the few that come up. I've cleared 2/3 of our garden and have hopes of the last third this year. But we can't relax. We are keeping ahead of it. Grrrrr.

[@1enediyne]

We have had great success with silage tarp on our beds, but similar problems with it coming in around the perimeter of the garden.

[@rhysgronow]

Would it be possible to cover the ground with a sheet and build a raised bed on top for 2 years? That way you can deny the quack grass sunlight and still use the space. When you're done pull the sheet out and turn the soil over then, back to good old hay for mulch. Would love to see that as an experiment.

[@BackToReality]

This sounds like a GREAT idea to me. Hopefully someone else can comment if they've tried this. And you never know, we may end up trying it as well! ;)

[@rhysgronow]

@@BackToReality I don't have quack grass, but I do have a neighbour with an overgrown garden who's given permission for me to use it as an allotment, I'll see how it goes.

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

@@BackToReality I'd keep any kind of plastic strictly on the surface, NOT buried under the soil. In rhysgronow's idea I would use a whole lot of cardboard rather than any kind of plastic sheeting. Then build a raised bed on top of that. Like a standard "lasagna" garden, but with more cardboard than usual laid down first. That will allow water to seep through it somewhat naturally, rather than hitting a plastic barrier a few inches or a couple feet under the surface and quite possibly pooling up, creating real problems for plants that require good drainage and don't like having "wet feet." Which is to say... pretty much every plant folks grow in most gardens. Roots will grow down through plastic sooner or later, and digging up any kind of weed barrier or sheeting is much easier said than done. I've done it. It SUCKS! lol. It tends to be a real pain to pull out; it gets brittle and comes apart in pieces, and you never seem to really get it all. Even if roots don't grow through it and the sheet stays in one piece, digging it all up still sounds like way too much labor to me. And you'd probably be disturbing or destroying a lot of helpful bacteria and fungi that spent the last two years working to help you. But yes, I absolutely agree that growing on top of it one way or another while you're waiting for the quackgrass to die off is worth a try!

[@gittawynant157]

Just popping in to say I love your content ❤ and to let yt know to always push it

[@littlehomesteadbythebeach]

Sounds good! Hope it will stay dead and not just dormant! I'm sure you will still have corn and squash!

[@BackToReality]

I'm really hoping it stays dead too! So far, every time we've thought we had it licked... it eventually came back with a vengeance. So at this point, it's hard to be anything more than "cautiously optimistic". Thanks for the confidence on the corn and squash! :) I've got my fingers crossed for them too!

[@LuisC7]

These is very helpful for me and many other people I'm sure!!! Thanks!!! Two questions out of curiosity as I never saw you address these in any videos (AFAIK): do you raise animals? Do you have kids? Keep on homesteading!

[@amandar7719]

Not sure why tarp and silage plastic is soooooo expensive. I use builder’s damp proof membrane, 1200 or thicker grade. Much cheaper. From builder merchants or Amazon. It’s reusable. For new ground, or areas infested with bindweed/invasive grasses, I mow short, top with mulch or any seedless garden waste then cover DPM for at least 6-12 months. I also do same after a harvest of a first season bed that’s not being replanted with actual crops over winter (Live in UK so have options to grow overwintering veg) to protect against unwanted seeds/spores from settling. Once I have a garden bed/area under control, it’s just top dressed with compost/autumn leaves until needed. Like you, one can compromise for a quick crop on a new bed with DPM by putting slots in. But I’d rather use free second hand or older plastic for that. I’ve made a quick garden bed like this growing potatoes. Cut the haulms, pull the black plastic and pick the potatoes off the ground. I will admit to have spot poisoned returning bindweed in the past using a glyphosate based waxy substance from a tube that worked like a lipstick 💄. Using rubber kitchen gloves under a leaf and gently pasting a tiny bit of wax. It worked well amongst crops- no risk of spray drift. Killed the plant to the rhizome in most cases although I observed (as I pulled the dead plant to burn) that the bindweed would kill its own stem deep underground to stop the poison travelling down to the original mother rhizome. (Isn’t nature amazing?!) But it did weaken it and eventually disappear. Sadly, these little lipsticks seem to have been withdrawn from the market. I know glyphosate is condemned by us organic/regenerative growers, but spot clearing perennial weeds, bramble roots, invasive Japanese knotweed, etc it has its uses. I’d rather not use it now but wouldn’t condemn others doing so in select circumstances. I too think bindweed has multiple purposes. One day the scientists will let us know…. 😇😂 Hope my experience helps….

[@GenieBright]

Very helpful. Did you also did a 6 inch trench around the tarped area? How far did you extend the tarp beyond the quack grass?

[@travispeck8633]

Your videos are simple, yet through. You take note of multiple variables and animate things to make them easy to understand. You do great work here and I NEED MORE! I can not get enough of your content, and I have so many questions, like what do you do with all that lemon balm? LoL keep up the good work 👍

[@joebesko5592]

Thanks! Awesome information

[@johnclamshellsp1969]

Any thought on using a large propane brush torch "sidewalk weed torch". Use to heat the soil and kill all roots before grow season.

[@danc9866]

I used cardboard and woodchips for my walk ways. Mulch my garden with straw. Still get some on the edges but it’s manageable.

[@russeellbowman9498]

Oklahoma ag scientists are trying this: scrape off the green, rototill and pull/rake, tarp immediately. When it looks like all is well, remove the tarp, let the new shoots barely appear, scrape, rototill, and tarp immediately and repeat. This works fairly well for bermuda grass. I have bermuda grass, nut sedge, bahia grass, centipeed grass, and pig weed in central Georgia. I will try a small patch to see if it will work, and if it does, we are in business! It might take a whole year to get the nut sedge out. For that, I hear ag molassis sprayed on the ground causes the nut berries under the ground to rot, a last resort measure. For us, a good 20 x 40 plot with a trench and fence around it with a sprayed margin outside the fence sprayed regularly with epsom salt and vinegar ought to keep the creeping down.

[@messyhomestead7320]

Thank you so much for sharing this. I'm near OK and have similar soil so this may be something I could reach out to my extension about. I'm okay with things taking a couple years, I just need a solution to mowing which is expensive nad toxic to the ground. Thank you.

[@nicolasbertin8552]

Quackgrass WILL come back if you bring back the soil conditions that made them such a problem in your garden. You didn't listen to the detailed post I wrote on your previous quackgrass video. I have this weed all over my garden, but now it is not a problem. I KNOW how it works. This weed grows in compacted rich soils, once you have nice fluffy soils it's not as dominant because that's not its growing conditions. So with the tarp you may have removed some of it, but there's are still thousands of quackgrass seeds in your garden, waiting to germinate once you make the mistake of letting that soil get compacted again. So prioritize woodchips over hay and grass clippings, in order to feed worms that will decompact your soil. Coz hay and especially grass clippings are not very good worm food. Too much nitrogen. Now in my garden, all my beds have a nice aerated soil. I only have quackgrass in my paths, and it has now become my lawn. I just mow it once in a while, and it doesn't invade my veggie beds because my soil is fine. The paths are compacted by humans stepping on it, so quackgrass thrives there. In veggie areas where my soil isn't fine however, I see quackgrass. It's a good warning sign. In this case, I bring out the broad fork, I decompact that soil, I add a thick layer of wood chips, and I plant what I can right away.

[@nonawolf7495]

Great video - I will try this method! Hey... fun fact: Torpedo grass (quackgrass) is not native to the west. It was imported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as forage for cattle. One more government disaster.

[@ManWander]

such an adventure!

[@BackToReality]

lol, tell me about it! It certainly keeps us on our toes!

[@jordyhumby]

Great video. That quack grass is scary. I thought maybe you could use it to add to your mulch everytime it comes up because the mulch keeps the ground soft. I havent tried it though personally.

[@stefflus08]

I did the same this year, but with strawberry type water permeable tarp. My main concern is destabilizing soil biology, since the temperature is off, there is mass extinction, and then suddenly food scarcity.

[@messyhomestead7320]

Wow did that work? I can't imagine that working for me in my zone, it seems like the sunlight and water getting through would keep them thriving, but maybe I'm not understanding. Thank you!

[@thedartonarrow5476]

Just wondering about the sawdust paths ? x

[@messyhomestead7320]

Me too, really need to understand those better. No way if I put sawdust down, grasses would not come through that. What is this sorcery :)?

[@joansmith3492]

consistent persistence is required to win. that is the hard part

[@robinkesler453]

I miss you.

[@paulmaxwell8851]

I think there should be a trigger warning before this video for those of us who battle couchgrass every year. It's truly nightmarish!

[@robertkonczal7406]

Cover an area for two years Dig a trench afoot down for the perimeter of raised beds 4'*20', leaving a path between each bed. Install corrugated roofing into trench and sticking out a foot high, driving stakes in to support Shovel dirt from paths into bed and rake out Cover dirt with card board or ram board or trimaco paper from home depot paint department. Cover paper with leaves and trusted head clippings. Plant potatoes first year not piercing the paper. (Let winter and worms do that. Oh, and fill in paths with sand. Hey, who needs to go to a gym?!!?

[@BlushingRoseDiaries]

I’m dealing with this issue. We have cogon grass growing every where around my home, in our raised garden beds and in the pathways. It will even grow through a regular tarp. Solarizing doesn’t even work because of the rhizomes.

[@JuniorDiamond5360]

Crack grass?

[@Blaculo]

In Florida this is a problem. We either sheet mulch with double cardboard and mulch on top for six months, or covering with billboard vinyl for four to six months and then raking clear.

[@messyhomestead7320]

Where do you get your cardboard? I tried to save a bunch of boxes and have some folks lay them out for me, but I've just ended up with a yard full of cardboard poking out from weird little hills of high grass. It's no good. Thank you!

[@linkinpark9281]

Happy to hear of your success! How long would the solarization approach need to go on for? I have about a quarter acre of quack grass basically, and I’d really love to go ahead with solarization. I’ve already started on a couple of beds, one almost a month in, and the other 3 weeks. I will be peeling back and planting into the first one tomorrow, while leaving the second one over winter

[@jimmytyson6726]

Generally it works much faster, as quickly as a couple weeks. Apparently it does also damage the soil ecosystem due to the amount of heat, but soils are relatively easy to repair, so regenerative practices to bring back organic matter should work.

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

@@jimmytyson6726 I'm confident that aerated compost tea would be a good idea to help bring back beneficial microbes after the plastic is removed. I think even a real thin layer of nice healthy compost would assist in getting things started; of course more would be even better. Planting beans and/or clover that are innoculated with mycorrhizal fungi should help. If possible, adding some soil from another spot that's free of the unfriendly rhizomes but does have a healthy system living in it. All those regenerative practices, as you said.

[@jimmytyson6726]

@@dogslobbergardens6606 Yep, as for solarization materials, I've heard that old/damaged polytunnels seem to work well. Might be useful to reach out to local growers to try to divert some waste.

[@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane]

I'm in zone 4 and tried the clear tarp solarization technique for regular weeds in my garden one summer. I left the clear plastic on for three months and the weeds thought it was a greenhouse and grew like mad! It seemed to actually make things worse. I think he was right saying it works better for warm climate areas, although we get very hot and humid here in the summer too. I don't know, maybe I did something wrong...

[@jimmytyson6726]

@@SweetStuffOnMonarchLane That's interesting. Did you mow the weeds down before you put the tarp down? I suspect if the tarp is not directly on top of the soil, solarization will not occur.

[@ScenterSquare]

KZbin Herrick Kimball uses that silage tarp over his mini bed experimental gardens. Seems to make his garden very productive with little watering and weeding. I am regretting not accepting a decent cut of silage tarp from a neighbor to try for myself.

[@SRM_NZ]

Dude.....I live in New Zealand......not only do we have Couch Grass [Bermuda grass] we also have every other warm season grass available...all grow via rhizomes......including Kikuyu.......which is the most prevalent grass in the country....the rhizomes are 4-5 times as thick as a Bermuda and 10 times as hardy........I can tell you Kikuyu will work its way through a concrete footing, push its way up through asphalt...most rhizomous grasses are unstoppable in the usual ways of chemical or organic methods......After being in the garden for over 40 years, the only way to get rid of these grasses and keep under control is to 'dig'....I have no idea how organic you are or want to be....but in this case I highly recommend you running down to Canadian Tire and grabbing a Mastercraft gas powered rotary hoe...and till that soil......Here in New Zealand we can buy a recycled plastic garden edging that comes in different widths.......I would grab the widest, thickest plastic edging you can find and dig this in around the outside of your garden in an attempt to stop them running into the garden area.......nothing will kill off the rhizomes.....nothing.....you have to dig every bit of root out...or it will come back.

[@LifeLibertyGarden]

I successfully removed quack grass in a 20x25'ft area by removing the first 6-8" inches of topsoil(grass and rhizome) and heat composting(didn’t work in long run) it. Then adding a 6" layer of woodchips. Been free of the quack for three years now. Hope this helps.

[@messyhomestead7320]

Did you heat compost it on your property or send it away? Also, did you put the woodchips on the stripped lawn or did you put it on after putting that compost back on first? Thank you so much.

[@LifeLibertyGarden]

@@messyhomestead7320 I would just throwaway any bit on quack you find… I feed it to chickens or to the garbage. Some, did find a way in my compost heap.. the best way to eliminate quack is by hand pulling or the deepest setting on a sod cutter. You have to strip the lawn out. Then, a thick layer of arborist wood chip. On other parts of my property, I let quack grow, and it seems to be friendly with a plants and veggies as long as it’s smuthered by a thick wood chip layer. It CAN co exist in your garden plot.

[@lindseyhall7906]

Amazing

[@elizabethammermann8182]

I did a similar experiment with my garden. After removing the tarps I saw the roots of the quackgrass on the top of the soil. I used my weed burner and fried the roots. That has seemed to kill the grass, as I do not see any signs of it in my garden.

[@HH-forIAM]

Can you show what kind of gate you have with the fence & how keep critters out?

[@BackToReality]

Absolutely! I'm hoping to make a video about that later this season. :)

[@HH-forIAM]

@@BackToReality I'm planning & trying to procure materials... can I get a hint? 😁

[@jillssimplelife1284]

I'm going to be using used lumber wrap tarps from a local lumber yard. They were just going to throw them away.

[@TanjaPreugschas]

Hi, we live in Alberta, trying a no till garden and quack grass is everywhere ( paths are cardboard with about 6 inches of wood chips) . Any chance the sileage tarp might work over fall and winter and early spring? ( so not a full year). I was thinking of harvesting at the end of the season ( probably September), pulling what quack grass rhizomes I can out of the beds then applying a thick layer of shredded leaves, lawn clippings, straw, cardboard then covering it with a sileage tarp until May the next year . Does this seem doable, any chance it could have a similar result ?

[@ln1273]

We are plagued with bindweed, I wonder if this would work for that also. 🤔 Will have to try your method. I’m thinking I will put cardboard down, wood chips then tarp. 🤞

[@omeshsingh8091]

Just when I think I've beaten rhizomatous Grass it pops up: "Quack Quack motherf..." I decided I have to tarp it this year, that's how I ended up at this video. Great to see what the process is like, and with a timeframe.

[@G-boi]

I think you guys would be better of tilting the grow beds every year completely and then tarp it so when everything breaks down underneath the tarp it will also give back organic matter in the meantime.

[@gmp7051]

Any updates on the patch that was left covered? We are in the early stages of getting rid of a massive infestation of this grass!