Couch grass, an annoying type of grass originally from Europe, has quickly come to spread across the entire world. It is a quick grower and a common inhabitant of wastelands. Unfortunately, it also frequently grows in gardens. Couch grass can be just as dangerous to your plants as plant-eating insects, since it can choke out your other plants. Couch grass is also just ugly, so don't let it turn your nice looking lawn into a disaster.
Couch grass is very difficult to get rid of once it has established itself in your lawn, so be sure to check to see if any is growing. If you spot couch grass, make sure to mow down the grass as soon as the young couch grass shoots begin to grow. If you get it early enough, you can stop it from seeding and spreading over the rest of your lawn.
If you see young shoots in flowerbeds, use a selective weed killer on them to avoid harming your perennials. Never hoe couch grass, since hoeing breaks up its rhizomes, and any broken bits you leave behind will multiply.
If you do not yet have a lawn but are preparing the ground to grow one, be very careful that you remove all couch grass shoots and roots before you lay down your lawn. If you don't, the couch grass will shoot up and overrun your grass before your lawn has a chance to grow.
If couch grass has established itself in a lawn, carefully dig out whole clumps with a fork. Lawn weed killers will not kill it, and if you have to resort to poisons, only those such as dalapon, which kills all growth and persists for three months, will work. The problem with this poison, however, is that it will kill your lawn, too. Once you have removed the dead growth, wait until the active period of the herbicide is over, then re-seed or re-turf the ground.
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