Why QUACKGRASS is such a huge pain in the… garden.

And here’s another perfect example of why rhizomatous grass, like the quackgrass we’ve been battling for the past few years, is such a huge pain in the garden. This is a rhizome, one those tough underground stems that quackgrass uses to start new daughter plants where you least expect them. You see, each rhizome has the potential to sprout new leaves every couple of inches along its length. But you may be thinking, it’s just a little underground stem, how bad could this really get? Well, here I am carefully digging up an infestation that came in from just outside our fence. And all of this came from one single rhizome over the course of just a week or so. It breached our defenses, silently crept along under our mulch, and then by the time we noticed it, it was already too late. Plus rhizomes are also storage organs. And so, if I were to accidentally miss even a tiny piece, it would have all the energy it needs to get the whole process started all over again. But this time, from inside the fence.

[stevebreedlove]

So the best way I have found is to have chickens eat all the green. Then use a manure fork to pull up and expose the rhizomes. Then put some water on it to stimulate growth and keep doing that until it is gone

[meuhey]

the only way to deal with it is to build forest gardens

[marthasundquist]

You know, I've been studying a little bit in permaculture and have found some persistant weeds were actually helping out by pulling nutrients up from deep because of super long roots. Might want to see what purpose the quackgrass is performing. Dandions pull up calcium when top layers are deficient, leave die replenish top layer calcium. They fade away when they have 'fixed' the area.

[michaelgibson]

Those rhizome tips that shoot out are very hard and sharp. Im always poking my family with em. Lol they hate it.

[KTplease]

These types of grasses THRIVE under traditional sheet-mulching, ugh! They love growing under cardboard especially. The only thing that keeps them at bay is SHADE from thickly planted beds.

[Ikimono]

I made the mistake of tilling in my garden when I first moved in, only to later find out it was rhizome grass like this. All I had done was chop up and distribute the rhizomes so they could easily and widespread reproduce... nightmares...

[deltaa]

Called Couch grass here and it's a constant battle. The way I have stopped it getting into my allotment is to dig it out, put wood chip mulch 1ft deep all around the outside of the plot and weed that a couple of times a year. It still gets in but I have gone from multiple wheel barrow loads per section (seriously, it got bad) to using a seed tray.

[Kregorius]

Just imagine the environment this thing evolved in. It's so hard on surviving it grows meters underground and every piece had ability to restart the population. Meaning where it came from this much was needed to survive...

[elizabethblane]

In California we have crabgrass, and it does the same thing I found that you have to mulch very heavily and stay on top of it don't allow anything to grow above ground, and it will eventually die back somewhat.

[Fred_Nickles]

Most terrifying horror movie on YouTube 😅

[justarandomgothamite]

i would've said pain in the grass but you do you

[lwjenson]

I'm battling it too! Good luck with your fight!!!

[seriouslyreally]

I have the same problem with the trumpet vine I planted 12 years ago. The garden tag said it was a new non invasive variety. It took 10 years to start suckering. 15-20 ft from the crown. Every root segment that get chopped up and remains underground sprouts a new vine.

[thelonelybritV]

The house I grew up in had a problem where our garden & the gardens to either side were infested with Japanese Knot Weed.
You can dig out the stems that pop above ground all you want, but unless you're willing to dig up your lawn with at least a mini-digger (like we did) then you aren't going to get the massive interconnected system of roots that lie beneath the surface.

[bbbean]

We have st augustine here and it's awful. When I see other people (in videos) scooping sections of grass out with a shovel I'm so envious.

[Youdontknowmeson]

Just grow sunchokes with them they will just fight to the death or mint.

[marjoriejohnson]

Paid 2 people to remove such a plant. Came home several hours later and they had built the edgingbwall. Went to put first plant in and pulled out 10 feet of such under ground " stems". Was pissed from the very beginning because i knew at least one of thev2 should have known.

[crossing]

nature trying to survive. self preservation
we should plant on the border of deserts

[dvxAznxvb]

it’s not as bad; just brush glyposate slurry one one end and it affects the whole plant without overspray or collateral

[tonystephengrayson]

You're lucky to have such loose soil, imagine having it in clay soil😑