Conquering Quackgrass and More: Get Ahead of Pesky W**ds Now!
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- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
- Weeding: removing unwanted plants when they’re small, before they set seed, and before they get a foothold in your garden is SO crucial.
In the early days, weed early, weed often. Get ahead of weeds and do not neglect to get them when they’re small and unassuming. Reduce the density and weed burden early on, and you’ll find the work becomes less and easier as the years go by.
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Wanna know how I know you know what you know about what we both know about Quackgrass? Okee Dokee.
To start, I'm old, plump, and missing a leg that now has carbon fiber and titanium as a replacement.
The area I dug up is approximately 65 feet x 80 feet, or 5200 square feet. The first go around was a complete waste of time, money, and effort. I thought I could kill it with a 41% glyphosate solution. It looked promising until it started growing again. Being the genius that is me, I repeated the process. It didn't work any better the second time. That was the point I researched what it was I was trying to kill because it appeared to be pretty tough. I started by struggling to identify the culprit and eventually learned what I was up against. Part of my learning curve was revisiting high school biology and rhizomes.
I proceeded to rip out the literal carpet of vegetation which was an extremely dense "mat" of roots. I used a sharpshooter garden spade shovel to first pierce through a small section, and then use a hoe and steel garden rake to remove the material. As I proceeded I discovered that there were roots that continued deeper, down to about one foot, and after getting curious I continued chasing and tracing...until I found the first "mother" rhizome. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This quackgrass is a freakin' monster. I reformulated my game plan. That is when the real work started.
Again, let's not forget that I am an old, pudgy, crippled fart...and a little bit mean. Anyway, I proceeded to dig up the entire area with a shovel and get every last monster I could find. Long story short...I'm still trying to kill quackgrass. I'd keep sharing my process and what I've done but I've likely already bored the sh*t out of anyone that made it past the first paragraph.
Great rabbit fodder. They crunch away at those rhizomes and make quick work of them. I have a small patch that keeps reappearing from under my neighbor's fence. I go in and rip it out every few days, much like one would with their mint patch that's getting out out of hand, and toss it to the bunnies. I just have to make sure that no small rhizomes are left behind when I go to use their manure in the garden.
Are your rabbits pets or meat rabbits? I’m thinking about raising some
Rescue pets and fertilizer machines, but we've had some accidental pregnancies and kindles that if in a pinch or in the event of a major food scarcity crisis I imagine meat production would produce quite a sustainable yield. Perhaps my girlfriend might feel differently 😂
You do such a wonderful job in your tutorial videos Angela. This is one I'll definitley be pointing people too. I've tried relating to folks how aggressive Quack grass is but until they fight it dont seem to get it. Your story of how much you dug out is such a great illustration of the need to be diligent with diggin it out. Btw, I have gotten to call it the weed from hell after fighting it at my garden on 148th property. That was not nearly as as what you had, but was still a lot of trouble.
My property was left to nature many years. When I build my house and started gardening I discovered that all that grass was this quack grass. This is second year and quack grass wins. I'll start deep mulch vegetable garden in other place and will stay vigilant but If quack grass will win the third time I'll probably give up to annual vegetables. Maybe I'll start raising meat rabbits since their food is indestructible.
This sort of grass is in my garden. Not only does it spread underground with those white roots, it sends above ground runners like a spider plant to try take hold above ground as well. So I can’t compost any of it with the rest of the grass cuttings!
after years of mulching they are quite easy to pull in the soft rich soil
Thank you for your videos. My 40’x40’ garden area is being taken over with this grass. It can from me using hay as mulch one year. Everyone out there thinking about using hay, use caution. I might have to give up on this area.
Made the same mistake here, STRAW should be used for mulch, Hay has seeds and can rep-plant.
Supposedly another issue with this weed is it releases an enzyme that reduces other plants ability to grow. And it doesn't provide much foliage, also doesn't seem to loosen up the ground much. I tried burying it in mulch but it keeps growing through other nodes.
One thing I had noticed is there do seem to be some nodes that are thicker than others, when pulling those out it seems to severely reduce them in the area.
@@kriegjaeger Good to know about the larger nodes thing. I ended up just giving up on that area. It’s all grass now. Hopefully in time my regular non-rhizome grass can take over the area again I can go back.
@@thesarge- another method I've heard is to sow something in the fall that is larger and more aggressive, like buckwheat. Choke out the rhizomes. But then I wonder if you'll have a buckwheat problem haha.
Organic fertilizer 👍
The best use of quackgrass is to burn it immediately...if for no other reason...to get rid of some passive-aggressive energy.
Ha! it does bring out the rage hidden down deep, doesn't it??
Dig the rhizomes and roast them and then boil in water. This is very beneficial for the kidneys.
It's a royal pain that's for sure.
If I recall aright, I read that the rhizomes (not the foliage) of quack grass are humanly edible, rather bland, and surprisingly nutritious. Come SHTF, the more sources of known food, the better.
All grasses are edible I believe. Taste isn’t necessarily great but they are always survival food. Cattail tubers too.
@@Brennannnnnnnnn Edible and digestible are two different things. While the juices of grasses are beneficial, the structures include absolutely indigestible cellulose, which is beneficial to the gut microbes of termites and ruminants.
wish you had shown actually digging that grass out of the plant cuz thats the tricky part.
How about fermenting it in a bucket with water for fertilizer?
I was just going to recommend the same....I am filling a bucket every few days with grass and weeds and adding water. Once it’s, fermented down, I pour it on my compost to further decompose. It makes the chore of pulling weeds feel worthwhile.
Absolutely this is the way. I recently started doing this and it's fantastic. Give back the nutrition they are stealing from your lawn or garden.
I was thinking of something similar, might start tossing them into a trough I got.
I've watched this several times - as many other videos of quackgrass - and I'm struggling. My garden is huge and it had been neglected for decades before I got it couple of years ago. The weed problem is huge and mulching doesn't do much but makes it sprout more. (Also I don't have access to a large amount of wood chips so I have to use other mulches). I have one bigger even area I have decided to use tarp to kill of the quackgrass, but in most of the garden it doesn't work. Do you have any tips on how to proceed as I feel I'm fighting a battle I am loosing. P.S. To make matters worse - a big part of my garden soil is very heavy clay, so digging it out is really difficult. Mulching does make it a bit easier to pull out, but also encourages rhizomes to grow.
My muscovy ducks eat the quack grass, but they only nibble the new shoots, they don't eat the rhizomes.
This reminds me of what I believe to be bermuda in my yard. I hate it!! Burn it with fire! lol
I hate this stuff, always called it quake grass, though. It was explained that it was called quake grass because it moves like an earthquake lol. Obviously, that was wrong, but I find it funny. 😄😅 I do feed it to my rabbits. They like it.
It's called "kvickrot" in Swedish, that is "living root". It's a lot of life in those rhizomes... 😆
I heard pigs will eat quackgrass maybe you can try that?
I didn't know that. I can't have pigs in the city, but that might be helpful for someone who lives in a rural location.