Couch/Nut Grass elimination

[Fof]

Help, one and all.

When we bought our place a couple of yrs ago, we inherited a somewhat neglected garden.

With much blood, sweat and tears I have managed to rip most of the old stuff out and replanted.  The problem that I have still is the presence of Nut Grass and couch in the lawns which keep spreading into the raised beds.  As they appear I dig out or spray with glysophate, but this does not prevent new ones coming through from the lawns  For some reason the nut grass in the lawns is not touched by the glysophate, and to try and get rid of the couch would seem to require killing the whole lawn and starting again.

Is there any product that will take out couch and nut grass but leave the other grasses relatively unharmed?  Before you all fall about laughing, I realise that this request is like asking Little Honest Johnny to live up to his name, but we can always hope.

Any help or advise will be very, very welcome.

Fof

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[Andrew G]

Sorry about the top post, but couldn't reply at the bottom without getting that line down the side.

Anyway:

Firstly, there is nothing that will kill the couch and nutgrass, that won't kill other grasses.

The nut grass is a problem, that is very hard to get rid of. What type of grass is your lawn, anyway.

Gyphosate should kill it. It may require a few applications though.

Try this for the couch.

Spray it wherever it is, and if it is in your lawn amongst the other grass, be prepared to kill a little of you lawn about it, say 2inch border around the couch. Then, 2 weeks later, re-spray that exact area. That should be enough. Now give the grass in the lawn extra care close to this deadspot, so it overtakes it.

Ensure the following too when trying to kill the couch.

Spray all of it, including the runners. You may even see a foot long runner on it's own, spray it.

Make sure the dose is correct. Even a little stronger.

To the nut grass.

It should knock it a bit. Make sure you have the correct mix, otherwise it won't do much. Even make it a little stronger.

This will take repeated applications, possibly every 2 or 4 weeks. There is a certain time of year, where apparently the glyphosate will get down into the bulbs. I can't remember when, August seems to ring a bell.

You may even have to use the glyphosate straight, painting it on with a brush or using a weed wand. If you do use it straight, don't apply it when the grass has dew on it.

 

 

"Fof" <f...@ieee.com> wrote in message news:3C6661B9...@ieee.com...

[LQQK]

>>The problem that I have still is the presence of Nut Grass and couch in the lawns which keep spreading into the raised beds.

>>Is there any product that will take out couch and nut grass but leave the other grasses relatively unharmed.

 

There is a product made by Monsanto called Sempra. It does work very well BUT, I have only bought it once (about 2 years ago) and it is very very expensive (I forget what I paid for it, but was stunned by the cost). Hopefully it is now a bit cheaper.

[Fof]

Guys

Thanks.

LQQK: Will check out Sempra and see what the score is, and will post
my findings soon.

Andrews: Top post, bottom post, who cares, the info is what is
important. The lawn grasses can only be described as couch & nut grass
+ God only knows what else. I have found that Gyphosate will 'kill' ng,
but only at 100% strength. There is so much couch that I think I may
have to bring in a scarifier to lift the runners before mowing, and then
liberally scatter new grass seed and try to crowd it out. Probably
won't work but we can only try. (If I put about 1kg/sq.m then maybe the
new grasses will starve the couch of food and light :-))).

[Andrew G]

"Fof" <f...@ieee.com> wrote in message news:3C67A9F9...@ieee.com...

> Guys
>
> Thanks.
>
> LQQK: Will check out Sempra and see what the score is, and will post
> my findings soon.
>
> Andrews: Top post, bottom post, who cares, the info is what is
> important. The lawn grasses can only be described as couch & nut grass
> + God only knows what else. I have found that Gyphosate will 'kill' ng,
> but only at 100% strength. There is so much couch that I think I may
> have to bring in a scarifier to lift the runners before mowing, and then
> liberally scatter new grass seed and try to crowd it out. Probably
> won't work but we can only try. (If I put about 1kg/sq.m then maybe the
> new grasses will starve the couch of food and light :-))).
>
>
> Fof

I just recently got my Houses backyard started, with Greenleas Park Couch.
Our backyard had mix of grasses. Put it this way, if I had of bought this
house 2 years ago, when doing my apprenticeship I would have only had to
travel to the backyard to study for weed/grass ident :-)
Anyway, I sprayed a medium size area for my "couch nursery". Killed most of
it. Then I scratched it all over, gettting the dead weeds/grass off. Then I
waited for 2 weeks, sprayed again, then 2 weeks later planted. What came
through was easily handweeded, but I didn't have nutgrass, so I was lucky.
A scarifier, if it's the same as a dethatcher, will only make it grow
better. All a dethatcher does is "prune" the grass, so it sends out more
runners/roots, etc, to make it grow stronger.
Only my opinion, but I would look into getting one type of grass, esp if you
are going to buy seed. Don't buy those "lawn mixes" or "fixers" seed packs.
If you take a look on the pack, you will notice it does have a mix of grass,
which does become a real pain.
Did my parents lawn about 4 yr ago. Looked good for a year, then it went
back to weeds and mixed grass. And yes, the lawn mix had couch seed in it,
the main seed being perennial rygrass.
Good luck

[Andrew G]

 

"LQQK" <zi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:a481p8$7vf$1...@gnamma.connect.com.au...

>>The problem that I have still is the presence of Nut Grass and couch in the lawns which keep spreading into the raised beds.

>>Is there any product that will take out couch and nut grass but leave the other grasses relatively unharmed.

 

There is a product made by Monsanto called Sempra. It does work very well BUT, I have only bought it once (about 2 years ago) and it is very very expensive (I forget what I paid for it, but was stunned by the cost). Hopefully it is now a bit cheaper.

 

 

Saw that Sempra in a catalogue at work. Noticed it kills Mullumbimby. I take it that it's selective for Dicots (broadleaf)?????

[Mongolian Horde]

Having started planting Sir Walter Buffalo recently (I have a couple of
acres of Kikyu to eliminate and some serious tree planting to do in a really
weird strata plan) I would reccomend it wholeheartedly. The only thing is
the cost, at about double the cost of other turf grasses (but half the
maintennance in the long run). It looks like it will hold its own against
other weeds no problem

[Fof]

Hi Guys

Back again as promised regarding Sempra. Sorry LQQK, but there is no
way I'm going to use this around the house. I cannot claim to be a 100%
dyed in the wool greenie, but there are limits to what I will use.
Thanks for the suggestion, but no thanks.

If anyone else is interested go to
http://www.monsanto.com.au/products/default.htm, select on product name
and then view the label.

Thanks all

[Andrew G]

"Fof" <f...@ieee.com> wrote in message news:3C6B7964...@ieee.com...

Nice site you found, will come in handy.
But just wondering why you don't really want to use it around the house. I
take it you feel it is too dangerous around the house??
To be honest with you, IMO, it is not really any more dangerous than
Roundup. Well, maybe slightly.
The only added dangerous thing I found, is the bit about cleanup. To me, not
so much dangerous, but more of a hassle the cleanup.
The thing about siphoning back into water source? Well that happens with any
chemical if you leave the hose in it.
In fact everything there, all the safety directions, bar the sprayer
cleanup, are no different to any other chemical. Container cleanup and
disposal. Unwanted chemical disposal, also.
Put it this way. When we may be simply spraying roundup at time at work, we
still mix it with gloves, and use a respirator and suit. I am suprised at
the number of Golfers that ask what we are saying, and when we say roundup,
they ask why all the safety gear.?
Well, we do use chemicals often, so it pays to wear safety gear all the
time. But for the average user, a mask would be min safety. I mean, it still
is toxic stuff. Seems that when it is sold at supermarkets and such, people
simply know it kills weeds, and all they look for is the mix rate.
In fact, the Sempra is not all that different to Bindi and Clover killer.
You cannot use the lawn clippings and such as mulch.
Please note Fof. Not having a go at you, here in anyway. But your post just
reminded me of how some other people are careless with roundup. Of course, I
didn't mean you.
Bye now.