I'm a LOSER:(

Let me begin by saying that you are in no way, shape or form ...a loser. No one here will let you get away with sayiong that. We just don´t believe it. Wink

Now to task--
I have had trouble with this type of grass in that new gaerden that we took on last year... it was VERY bad. Ground elder is also a problem...but fellow gardners, I have found something taht works against both.
It is a type of marigold called Tagetes minuta. This plant grows quite tall and does have floweres, just not like the marigolds that you know and love. They are uninteresting.
I was going absolutely bananas with these ground pests and I could only go onto my hands and knees to pull them out, as I prefer not to use chemicals...not that they would have worked anyhow.
Ok, so I planted these plants where there the mean grass plants were, ground elder and bindweed growing.
The grass was killed and the other two began to show signs of withering at the end of the season...but I won´t know about them until the spring. I can tell you that the grass did die though.
I was able to find info on this plant on the internet and most of the info said the same thing -- that the tagates roots killed these pests and also a type of root-destroying larva.
I am a skeptical person by nature, but am always willing to experiment in the garden, so I tried it.
Have a look at these pics to see results. The stringy, brown things are the dead leaves of the grass--

This is the only thing short of physically pulling it out that works...and it´s `clean`, in the sense that it´s not chemical.
The seeds are cheap, so it was worth a try for me. Boiy am I pleased with the results so far...crossed fingers for bindweed and ground elder.

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Sjoerd http://www.volkstuindersvereniginghoornenomstreken.nl/Page11.html

Hi,

D2D: Since last year was the first year that I have planted and experimented with this plant, I don't know alot (firsthand) about the plants.
I do not know how far it works, but UI understand that the enzymes that are produced by the roots of the Tagates are absorbed by the roots of the pest plants. If it goes all the way into the rootsystem of the target pest-plants, I do not know yet...I'll know more in the spring. I planted these Tagates p[lants along a fence in the new garden and after a few months all the grass plants were dead..... also on my neighbour's side of the fenceand from that time until today, there are no new signs of grass growth. BTW... I think that that mean sort of grass is called "couch grass" or " crab grass", but I am not sure. I purchased the seeds from a seed company here in Holland. If you get serious about trying them and cannot find them there, I will try and get them for you or give you the name of the seed company, and you can order them yourself...whatever you prefer. I would give you the name now, but I can't recall which seed-hiuse it was, I shall have to look.
Yes it is a ray of hope. I can't waut to see if it works just as well against the other meanies.

PALM TREE: Please be aware that this particular type of Tagates isNOT the small, beautiful little orangy-yellow flowered plants that grow anourt ankle high or so... these plants get to be 6 feet tall!...and they are permanent, not annual.
They start working about 3 months after they have been planted the info said, but I noticed results beginning to happen after 1 monmth and 3 weeks.
So far as I know or was able to find this species of Tagates is the only one that will kill weeds. Its presence did not damage my veggies either. The fragrtance of the foilage is different from the usual marigold smell, but it is also pleasant, I find.

Good luck with them.

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Sjoerd http://www.volkstuindersvereniginghoornenomstreken.nl/Page11.html