Ruth Stout's Worst Enemy (rhizomatous grass in a deep mulch garden) 

«So, if you like us have discovered some of this grass in *your* garden…» What do you mean? *I* am attempting to discover my *garden* in this grass…

I have painstakenly cleared a lot of garden space of quackgrass. The toil was so long that I thought I was the only person who would actually do it. I was even embarrassed and didn't want anyone to know I was that eccentric. But it doesn't stop there. It seemed like often the quackgrass would grow in my compost pile ( which I failed to keep hot enough thru carbon nitrogen balancing and turning, etc. So, I had massive amounts of evil grass which were threatening to reinvade through compost. This year, after moving again, I spent an absolutely embarrassing amount of time teasing the quackgrass out from a long overgrown garden plot. Then, even more bizarrely, I took it inside, bucket by bucket by bucket, laid it out in roasting pans, and put it in the oven to ensure it would not continue to grow in my poorly managed compost pile. I roasted a freakin' ton of it. Luckily there were no witnesses.

Never has a 20 min video gone so fast

I too have been plagued with quack grass. The best method I have found to stop it getting into my garden is a physical barrier. We cut metal roofing into 18” wide strips and bury it vertically around the garden perimeter. We overlap the pieces about 6” and rivet them together. The joints are the vulnerable places of invasion; there can be no gaps or the grass will find those and creep in. Has worked very well for us

Your vids easy to watch simple voice over makes huge difference. Everyone walks around with camera In face. THIS IS WAYYYYY BETTER THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUU

When quack grass would take over my garden. I would fence it and put pigs on it. They love the toxins. They eat the mulch. EaTill the soil. Eat the grass and the rhizomes Fertilize and I get bacon. I love my pigs

I build my beds 30' by 40' with a moveable fence to create a chicken run where I will leave about 30 hens for a season to kill the grass. Then I will build the beds the next season with hay and wood chips in the paths and a good 3' border around the whole thing. I also have been building a border of comfrey all around the garden plot that blocks the rhizomes from coming back in and provides some good green mulch. Anything that gets past that I weed by hand. I can grow in the bed for 2-3 years and then cycle the chickens back in to clean up the plot and add nutrients. I've only been doing it for a few years now but it's been working well without much labor as my market garden is a 1 man show.

similar varieties also plague areas of the united states. i once spent an entire season hand-tilling and hand-screening my entire property to a depth of one-and-a-half feet in an attempt to get rid of it. the effort was back-breaking... and ultimately futile. never have i hated a weed so much.

QUICK CORRECTION: Owen Davies just pointed out that the "clover" I showed at 2:38 is actually "wood sorrel". Doh! So, I guess that makes FIVE weeds that regularly make it through our mulch. Sorry for the mistake, but many thanks to Owen, for the correction!

The production quality of this wowza. And I'll be searching for some of her books, her writing sounds nice.

my favorite rhizome barrier is comfrey. the roots are just too hearty for even crabgrass to try to compete through it when well established. Also its the easy to propagate that you can thicken the barrier just by cracking the roots with a shovel.

It sounds like the Bermudagrass we deal with here in the southern U.S. It is also rhizomatic and will extend several feet and pop up anywhere. This spring after seeing another RU-vid video about this grass, I laid down cut, thick strips of carpet with wood chips on top as a border around my vegetable garden. It laughed at the normal type of carpet with the mesh backing and grows right through, along with the Florida betony (rattlesnake weed). What it hasn't come through yet is the rubber-backed outdoor carpet that is on two sides of the garden. This is an option for the perimeter of a garden if you're having problems with rhizomatic grass. Just make sure it has a thick layer of rubber on the back - no mesh.

I feel your pain! Bind weed and Couch Grass, it drives me nuts. It took me 2 summers to totally dig out every last bit of it from a 30x30 area. It kept creeping back in from the borders of my garden. The best way to deal with it that I have found is, tarp the grass to kill the tops off. When you have left it long enough to kill the top off and left with bare soil, dig the roots out and get rid of it. Don't compost it, it will just spread again...as i found out when I first started lol!

It was so good that I didn't even realize 20 minutes had passed!

I worked with a LA on a few restoration projects one of which was on the waterway that passed through my orchard. He did some research on flame weeding. Using the flame weeded to just damage the plant enough to change the color of the leaf to a darker green. The plant uses energy to try to fix itself rather than just resprouting. This is one way I keep the weeds in check.

I used chickens to till, eat, and destroy Bermuda Grass (another stoloniferous grass) here in Southern California. I worked really well and i was on accident!

I always get excited when you guys upload a video :D

Another help you could try is a vegetative rhizome barrier such as rhubarb or non-spreading comfrey -- just a thought. Super great video as always. Goes to show that no method is foolproof and that all land devoid of vegetation WANTS to be filled with lush greenery, even when covered sufficiently. Guess that brings me to my ideology -- planting so much good stuff close together that it crowds out the grass (and each other somewhat, but that is better than the grass). You touched on it at the end too. Nature wants erosion control and the cycles of bare soil to grassland to shrubland to forest to fire/disaster and then start all over! It's difficult to fight nature as she is persistent and has so many tricks up her sleeve. Guess we sedentary agricultural humans have nothing but antagonism and bones to pick with this natural process, until we once again enter into the cycle we historically inhabited as nomadic creatures, just tens of thousands of years ago... Much love

I absolutely love your videos! You make everything so easy to understand (even from the tone of your voice to the wonderfully done graphics) You are willing to deal with topics that show also your struggles rather than nothing but successes. Thank you both for taking the time and energy to share with others.

This was super interesting to watch and extremely well produced, much like all of your videos.

Super-interesting! I love seeing all the deep-dive info about gardening that I almost certainly won't use, but I'm so glad that people can share.

This is how I deal with bindweed. Constantly pulling the plants as they grow until they eventually give up and die off.

Your videos are always so well-researched and document. I really appreciate following you guys. I've learned a great deal. Thank you for taking the time to create.

Please post frequently.. love ur work..

I always look forward to your videos, because I learn something new each time! As usual, your clear explanations combined with the visuals make it easy to follow along, even when it comes to a topic like this. I had NO idea how relentless this particular weed was, but it's good to know that it has its redeeming qualities. PS Love the Tribbles reference, ha ha.

This has to be the best video I've ever watched on grass. Bravo!

I don’t even have a garden but I just sat here mesmerized by your video. Outstanding presentation. I learned something about a topic I didn’t know anything about before watching. Thanks for posting!

This is your first video I have come across and I'm in awe of both the informative content and the brilliant visual animations. Thanks for putting so much time into this, and for focusing on the sorts of issues that are the nitty gritty of all those actually growing things, rather than catering purely for an audience merely wanting to be entertained (entertainment is great, it's just extra helpful when you're struggling for answers to be able to find such detailed information). 🙏

Thank you for this video! I’m in Northwestern Ontario and have been fighting this grass for years. Three years ago I found our about no-till gardening. So at that time I put away my tiller and hand-dug and weeded a large section of garden that remained relatively free of quack grass until this year. Two years years ago I hand dug quack grass out of my most of my beds - but alas did not have the energy to hand dig my aisles. My garden was full of quackgrass. Last fall gave up and I tilled and tilled again - then put down several inches of composted manure and hand dug some areas. This fall my garden looks like a lawn. So... I starting hand-digging an area, built a raised permanent bed with a three foot border that I hand weeded and then on the border I placed two layers of cardboard covered with wood chips. I am going to try to enlarge that area and have one more bed with another 3 food border of cardboard and wood chips and then keep expanding using that technique. Your video has shown me that when I have quackgrass in that section I will weed and place more mulch there. Good know about using a tarp and letting the garden sit for a year. We just replaced the tarp on a big shelter and I will use the old tarp to cover one area of the garden. Onwards ... Love the quality of your videos and your research!

Many have said so already, but your videos are just great. Feels like listening to friends, as you're not yet grandparents aged ;) the research, the animations and voiceover, the puns, the star trek reference, the topics and the approaches you take - I literally like all of it. Will see if quackgreass gets pianfull for our garden, we have a rhizomous plant that I'm trying to reduce to favor my strawberries. Keep it up!

Thank you guys for these videos. You have improved my gardening methods and success.

Dug out as much as possible year one. Year 2 again in spring covered with to kill seeds for 1 month, uncovered then let what was left to grow freely, and dug remaining roots. Also always weedwack before it seeds. Year 3 very few shoots came up and am getting ready to do a quick maintenance this season's end. Next challenge is the creeping trumpet vine rhiozomes. Oh what joys..

You guys are awesome. I really enjoy checking out your content while not being in the garden myself. Great work!

Your precise diction is extraordinary and much appreciated. Thank you for sharing your adventure.

Wow! Your videos are so top notch every time and such a pleasure to watch! Very informative and easy to understand! It's the things that I needed to grasp for our next step in the garden! Thank you for sharing the results of your hard work with us! It's such a blessing!

I use Ruth Stout's method in raised beds, but bc of my climate, killing this grass off requires several layers of cardboard; then covered with several layers of wood chips.

Have missed your videos, great to see a new one!

I've had a lot of problems with quackgrass. This gives me hope. Thank you!

I laid old carpeting on top and deprived them (and other invasive rhizome weeds) of all water and sun for about 4 months, starting late winter. They're as dead as dust and compost now. 😉 Love that u added that extra bit at the end! ❤

Well done. I like the information and production value!

battling this grass now in my new garden. thanks for the video and all the others on ruth's method. love it

I have 2 kinds of grass that propagate by creeping, and I really appreciate this video for all of the options to take care of it. I think being in a city with my growing area almost surrounded by concrete and asphalt will help a little, but I will definitely try digging a trench in the area I can’t control in any other way!

I made an experiment,that seemingly worked. I dug a narrow trench on the edge of the garden ,with a pickaxe,and I've put in it wooden planks about 6 inches wide standing on it's edges,in that trench. Then put the soil back on both sides of the planks. This definitely stopped the rhizomes from getting in the garden from the outside,which was one of their main routes of attack. The planks will compost over a few years,so not super long term,but after a year, this seems to help a lot. If you use underground planks around the garden,clear the garden as much as possible from the rhizomes,and put deep mulch on top of it,pick the few grass leaves that still pop out, you should be able to keep it from taking hold of your garden. They're definitely my worst enemy in the garden,as they can reclaim your garden,sabotage your production, if not kept in check.

You folks make the best, educational grade videos for sharing your gardening experience. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to make your results easy to understand and replicate. You say at the end of this vid that we're the best. Actually, you're the best. Thanks, again.

So glad RU-vid reccommended this video! I'd never seen your channel before, but now I'm subscribed.

The vain of my existence!!!! I just spent weeks fighting it off!! Took over the entire garden. Hopefully doing the trench around will help prevent it’s creeping back! Love your videos. They’re sorely missed.

Welcome back

This is the most well done gardening video I've ever seen. By a large margin, actually.

Brilliant video and really informative. I love the style 👍

Loved the longer content, thanks so much!

Ruth Stout fan here. Enjoyed this very much!

Thank you for this, pretty much all of our grass is couch grass, so this resonated with me! I am digging out my paths and putting the soil onto the beds for precisely this reason. When I started my first beds, I used the inverted turf from the area as the bottom layer of the bed. I had no idea how hard it was for grass to die in a cool, rainy climate! I am now using any turf I remove to create a low windbreak turf wall instead. One small tip i have learnt - I was given a load of leylandii trimmings, which everyone says not to compost or mulch with because they kill everything. Well, they're actually pretty good at smothering couch grass, and potatoes will still grow through them - a great example of 'the problem is the solution'!

We have struggled for years with Bermuda grass and Dallis grass. I completely understand the struggle to smother rhizomatous pests. I've adopted the cardboard smothering method, but it does require a lot of layers and a lot of vigilant re-applications.

Great explanatory graphics...Thanks!

Great to see an upload. Miss the regular vids

excellent video, folks. I have to say that I have one more weed very similar in characteristics to quack grass that I would add to future 'I don't ever want this in my garden--Like ZERO TOLERANCE- and that is Canada Thistle. I have two other rhizome spreading grasses as well that can be troublesome. I have zero tolerance on all meadow grass species in my garden. I have actually been able to deal with all of them with repeated cardboard applications and weeding out when they show up. But you can not let up, and go on vacation. You have to be as relentless as they are. That is the way to beat them.

I love your Présentation style and the way you deliver the information

It may have been entertaining (and not LONG at all!) to the novice but not the fully initiated! Things I have learned as I have dealt with this adversary. It has a depth level, less than a foot but more like 6 inches 'in soil' and maybe less under mulch. I aquired some by falling for a "free land fill" give-away in my beginning home ownership saga! Someone simply scooped off the top 8-12 inches of their problem and generously shared them with me! Never try to pull this from dry compacted soil (every break starts a new plant system!), always loosen (maybe by broadfork) already moistened soil, then gently tease out the strands and learn to recognise the parts and how to follow shoots back to the mother plant. Never compost this grass or parts. Someone advised me to treat this like "toxic waste" but my naturalist's mind said there has to be a safe way to use this. Having read the book "Farmers of Forty Centuries" (internet archives) I learned of a wet fermetation/compost process they used so I decided to try it myself on the worst of the worse! I have lots of buckets from friends who get kitty litter and I simply fill the buckets (sometimes adding a few comfry leaves as I do) cover with water and in a few days it begins to smell like a barnyard so to keep my neighbor from having to suffer my science projects I layer wood chips, crushed charcoal or leafmold on top and that stops the wafting (oh it WILL waft! lol). I use a stout branch to submerge the mass and turn the fresher parts underneath and then add more of the grass and captured rhizomes and submerge until the bucket is fully loaded then leave it to finish. Often it looks like a bucket of mud when totally done. Once you are knowledgable /brave you can pile all your bucket contents layering with wood chips or leaves and it transforms into useable compost over a winter. Turn buckets upside down to stop offending smells! I now use this for most weeds that are rhizomous or already seeded. www.compostjunkie.com/anaerobic-composting.html

We had the same issue around our garden and tried many methods including the sheet mulch perimeter. It did work but pulling the plants or constantly getting a wheel barrow of material was a lot of work. The method we have used for 3 years now with huge success was a version of the trench method. We hoe around the garden a dead zone about 12-18 inches wide every 2-3 weeks takes about 15 minutes and have zero grass get through in 3 years. We use a very sharp scuffle hoe to make the job very fast and easy and only do it when the soil is dry to make it easy. Thanks for sharing your experience and great story telling.

The most resilient grass I’ve EVER come across . Watching your video has given me an even deeper respect for this species. I have spent most of this summer ‘rooting out’ this grass, and also poisoning it in my lawn I have to confess. Only time will tell how good a job I’ve done

This is the best video I have seen about explaining weeds in detail. We already know about the rhizome, bec as gardeners, we encounter it all the time. But, in my personal experience, I have ever used hay/straw once and that was to protect a seedling from the last frost. Well, what do you know, I did notice less weeds!! And the weeds that came up i quickly pulled so that summer, I had less weeds! Yes, suffocating them does work!

Love your videos and continue to take inspiration from them. Great stuff

Every time you post a new video it's a small celebration. I adore you're videos and my only complaint is that they are so far apart. Keep up the good work!

Great video! :) Very informative, and really impressive production quality. The solution you're using now is the same I'm using in my garden. Your garden is looking great btw, and congratulations on finishing the fence! I know all too well that sometimes things take a long time. But now it's done, and how long it took doesn't matter anymore. Great job you guys :)

This is a very informative and well-made video. Subscribed!

Love you guys! And I love following your journey!

Thanks for another great video. I've done the Ruth Stout for all of 2020. Enjoying my results. Pennsylvania, USA

Great graphics.......excellent presentation

This was the best video about my grassss problem! Thankkkk youuuu

Learned a lot and didn't think I'd watch 'til the end.....but I did

You are very good at presentation . My hat is off to you . Good work , thank you.

What a great video. I wish I had found this sooner as I have been trying to find a way to battle my bermuda grass for 5 years. Last year I finally built a raised bed from concrete blocks and lined the bottom and sides with cardboard, taking care to overlap by a foot or more where there were seams. I used a very thick cardboard and when it got damp it curved away from the concrete block wall and the devil grass grew up through the tiny space between the concrete and cardboard! I am encouraged that the raised bed may help me win the battle, but I'm still worried about losing the war. I'm going to try planting comfrey as others have mentioned and I'm going to smother and trench as you have done. ONWARD!

Thank you! This was very informative. In the Southwestern U.S. we have a similar grass called Bermuda Grass. Unfortunately, it's the preferred grass for lawns and it is everywhere. Trying to get a back yard garden going is difficult when this stuff will grow up through 8 inches of fresh dirt and mulch. Now that I know about Charles Dowding's method, I'll be doing a bit of a reset on my beds over the winter.

Glad to see this video. Been using RS method for 2nd year, northern middle Tennessee. My problem is Bermuda Grass, which does the rhizome thing as well. Hard pan rocky clay soil on 10% grade. Nodes would break underground if wet soil, so that method didn't work for me. I finally settled on a Meadow Creature broadfork, since the claw was taking too long. I could dig up a lot of soil to get to the roots and eradicate them......seemed to work the best, then covered back up with hay and wood chips. Will begin the process in my new garden area this spring.....

You are the best! Good luck with your garden

Love this video! Thanks for all the work you do

Thank you for this very necessary video! My grandmother (80 years old) is still battling, with no success, this grass in her lands in Ukraine. This nemesis hasn't given her a break, and I was almost convincing my grandma to try out this method when I saw your video. Hope to see your news on this matter soon! Cheers :)

literally the only video i found that finds some beneficial qualities to quack grass

I take advantage of those types of grasses in my grazing operation. Anything that has a rhizome smooth bromegrass etc are able to penetrate where I bale graze in the winter. That method leaves a mulch which is how I fertilize areas of my pastures. Quackgrass can be outcompeted by smooth bromegrass and others if I graze it right but where it dominates I try not to lose too much sleep because it's a cool season grass and although not as productive it's high in protein when it's vegetative and not stressed lol

Your followers enjoy your videos and definitely wish there were more. Keep up the good work! God Bless!

I love your videos! (Even 20 minutes about grass) I always learn so much and appreciate them! I'm in Eastern Ontario and I'm going on the hunt for this stuff in my ruth stout bed that you guys inspired 😄

This was really informative. I've been battling some really annoying grass with rhizomes in the backyard of our new little place and now I have a very good understanding of how it works and why I can't get rid of it. My neighbours have left their blocks vacant and it seems that's where it's coming from

Just one more excellent presentation Thankyou, great info.

Always learn soooo much from your vids--thank you!

Best video about quack grass and maintenance, removal.

No, you're the best!!! 🥰 Anyway, we deal with Bermuda here in Arizona. And while it is a pain, my favorite quote about gardening is, "The most important tool in gardening is your shadow." As in, let your shadow fall on your garden every day. And man, does that grass keep my shadow on my garden. I've come to appreciate the way it keeps me on my toes and makes me physically stronger as I deal with it. It's never going to be gone. I've come to accept it. But I also think after dealing with 120F+ (48C+) temperatures AND Bermuda grass and still managing to grow pretty well, I'm ready to face almost anything. Thanks again for an excellent video.

I have recently found couch grass in my patch. I only have Ruth's gardening without work book. Hence I just pull it up and remulch but with straw. I find it less weedy than hay. Our allotment is almost entirely managed by the Stout method. We also experiment with other types of mulch like cardboard etc, but as Ruth said and I paraphrase, a mulch is a mulch, if it takes longer to break down then you just have to replace it less. Thank you for the great videos. They are very educational, and I like the fact that they are not lightweight.

Thanks for telling of the benefits of quackgrass. I'm learning about foraging for aomething new almost everyday, because in June everything is blooming, and so many wild edibles are easy to find!

Great presentation!

As someone who recently started getting into Star Trek, the reference at 4:30 was perfect!

Good vibes your way! Love you guys! 👨‍🌾💕👩🏼‍🌾

So, so informative. Thank you so much!

I have never had a garden that didn't have some quack grass. We tried the Ruth Stout method back in the 70's and again in the 90's but the slugs in Western Washington were overwhelming. I lay down boards on either side of my rows of plants and pull up the grass in the slot in between keeping the grass away from the plants as much as possible. Not a perfect system but good enough for me. Great video by the way. Thanks.

Very educational video. I plant clover,vetch and over 20 other green manures in my garden. They are very beneficial for an organic no till garden.

I've spent years with this monster. I tried everything. Unless your trench is actually a moat, it will make it across. It's been trying to get across my paved patio. This year we gave up on the area and let the other weeds compete. Our bermuda grass has never been less. Our solution to growing food is raised beds. It's been more than 8 years for the beds and the grass has not made it to the top. Although, sometimes I see some come through the gap between the bottom board and the next one up. My beds are at least 3 boards high. Good luck. ;)

Excellent, and insightful! Thanks for sharing! With regard to the wood sorrel, I would highly recommend eating them. Take one leaf (should look like a 3 leaf clover in shape, but usually a brighter yellow-green) and taste it. If it tastes like a lemon without the sourness, you have a real treat for salads and other things where it’s delicate flavor can be appreciated. The pods are especially flavorful!

Glad you are doing the experiment! I have yet to find a way to get rid of it. It even went over (now I realize it was not through) our 6 ft mulch pile as it decomposed

Excellent video...As Always.

Amazing information. Thank you from a fellow Canadian.

Fascinating! Thank you. Very educational.