Twitch

[Elderflower]

I`ve got a bit of a problem with twitch (couch grass to you) coming through from the cemetery next door. Not a major hassle I just sigh and dig it out again.
However, I put a really thick layer of compost on my asparagus bed in Autumn and when the usual shoots of twitch started showing last week I went to try to get rid before the asparagus puts serious growth on.
And what do you think?
The twitch has just colonised the compost, making it really easy to simply pull it out, growing tips and all!
This is probably old hat to you experts but I found it really exciting!
I know - I should get out more.

[Johnboy]

Hi Elderflower,
You have used the stealth method. You must still be aware that any minute fragment that breaks off as you 'gather your harvest' will grow so I would keep a very close eye on it in the coming months.
Nothing to do with Twitch, Scutch or whatever colloquial name you have for Couch Grass but this concerns Lesser Celandine.
Lesser Celandine is an absolute pest to get rid of and produces not only seeds but a cluster of tubers to regenerate and it is not long before from a single plant you have an invasion.
If you spread a 2" layer of sharp sand over the plants they will grow on the surface and are very easy to pull out, like the twitch, then very carefully remove the sand complete with the small tubers and dump them. Repeat this for a second year and you will catch any that you have missed in the first application. This is an ideal way to clear a shrubbery or other large expanse. I had a shrubbery with a herbaceous border which all became infested and this was cleared in two annual hits. Of course it is back within a few years but in manageable proportions.
JB.

[Monika]

Johnboy, why don't you like lesser celandines? I admit, in a vegetable garden they good be a problem, but in a shrubbery and herbaceous beds? They look so pretty, are one of the first uncultivated flowers in the spring and the foliage disappears by mid-summer. We have a large patch below the trees in the garden and we encourage it to grow every year. But then, I also think dandelions are one of the prettiest flowers around (with the flowers good for insects and the seeds for birds)!

[Johnboy]

I Monica,
I do not dislike Lesser Celandine and there is plenty around but the Shrubbery and Herbaceous border were underplanted with bulbs and it was spreading even out into the lawn. Dandelions are a wonderful splash of yellow and they are wonderful anywhere down wind from my patch!
JB.