I don't know your canary reed grass, but it sounds about as nice as creeping bindweed. Sometimes the only way to get rid of that is judicious application of glyphosate (roundup). Some people go so far as to apply it with a gloved hand to individual plants, which is tedious but safer.

I'm no fan of unnecessary chemicals around food crops, but there comes a time when it is, imho, a reasonable alternative if done right. I also feel that the wholesale application of this or that can be reckless. On the other hand, some of the sprays are lifesavers when used responsibly. One of those responsible uses, again imho, is to keep back fresh invasions of a weed that has been set back by digging, tilling, mulching. Like you, I doubt the vinegar thing is worthwhile.

I'd also consider a limited spray program with a glyphosate type (no residual effect) the year before planting, with a heavy mulch to help keep the soil clear until planting. But that doesn't help you this year!

We fought with quack grass in our garden, until one year I let the garden go empty and spent the entire summer removing every bit of quack grass I could find until I couldn't find anymore. Then it was reasonable to keep it out. Raised beds help.

Good luck,

Mark

That sounds like bad stuff, even worse than the canadian thistle I have. If the area is not too big get some junk plywood or similar and lay over it for a whole summer; plant the following summer.

If you can't cover it about the only non-toxic option I can think of is wearing it out: dig it up and follow with knockback on a frequent basis, with either vinegar, weed flamer, more digging, etc. That requires a regular commitment but if you keep knocking them back every time they start up again, for a couple years, you have dealt the knockout blow. I have had success with this method on some pernicious weeds and not others; the success was entirely related to how much time and energy I devoted to it.

Permanent edging around the garden would limit the spreading; I don't know how deep the edging would have to go but it may be needed to be pretty deep.

Scott

Would you consider a rhizome barrier, with mulch inside the barrier to control and seeding?

Also, with enough space you might be able to plant a border of some very rooty plant that you can live with, as with your Jerusalem artichokes. Would heavily planted and fed rye do it?

Then you would at least have a barrier to help you patrol the borders.

I found some info on controlling ... ah... stuff.

Since it's best to know all about your enemy, here's info:
http://www.ipaw.org/invaders/reed_canary_grass/index.htm

This is a related chart showing different kinds of controls, when they should be used, etc:
http://www.ipaw.org/invaders/reed_canary_grass/draft_rcg_table_sm.pdf

For more info, search CONTROL CANARY REED GRASS.

Sue

Thanks for all the ideas so far!
Yes, Canadian thistle has nothing on this grass. I've found frequent mowing will actually eradicate thistles.

What is a rhizome barrier? Would that be like the corrugated metal or concrete barriers often used to keep bamboo in check?

Thanks again!

I'm having a hard time picturing "cardboard mulch is not effective at any thickness" Are you saying you have tried multiple staggered layers of thick cardboard (such as cardboard refrigerator boxes) and it somehow repeatedly grew through all those layers?

I have had great success controlling Bermuda Grass, which also spreads through rhizomes, with thick cardboard. If it pokes through, you add another layer, and it eventually runs out of energy.

Carla in Sac

Do any of you have experience with solarization- that is using clear plastic to cook the weeds out?

Solarization will knock it out ahead of planting but has to be done during mid summer. Properly done it will kill roots and all. But in a berry patch it will soon be back. There are herbicides that will kill it out of berries, but sounds like that is out. Don't think you will find anything else that will do the job in a berry patch.

Carla- yes I have tried a good thick layer of both cardboard and newspaper, spreading a thick layer of mulch over top so that it wouldn't fly away. The grass poked through in a number of places, and spread while I wasn't watching. Where placed around plants (blueberries, grapes, raspberries) it was a total failure.

While I have tried solarizing 2 years ago, I will admit that weeks of cool, cloudy weather foiled my plans. I think it is worth another try. At the price of plastic (and huge amounts of it) I want to be know it will work well- I need to do another test plot this summer.

Once it gets into a bed, especially into the roots of your desired plants- you may as well give up and turn it into lawn and mow it.

Reed Canary Grass is an increasing problem in my area. It grows quite large, up to 6 feet tall, and forms an extremely dense, rhizomatous root mass that chokes everything else out. Not a good weed.

However, in my country it only grows with water, so it tends to line the edges of canals, irrigation ditches, and drains, rarely extending more than a couple feet back from the bank and remaining in pretty well saturated soil. The problem it causes is that it grows into the waterway, catching dirt and silt in the water, until it closes off the waterway, and it forms such a dense root system it is very hard to cut and open up with a shovel--it is rapidly climbing on my list of hated plants.

A strong dose of glyphosate will take care of it, sometimes it takes a couple repeats, though.

Based on where it lives here (wet to saturated soils), I would ask whether your ground is too wet for the berries you want to plant? You may have to resort to raised beds, and if you do you could line the beds with heavy plastic. I would think laying plywood down for a growing season would probably remove it as well.

Whatever you do, you will need to clear a much larger area than you intend to plant, then work diligently to keep it from creeping back in.

Have you even seen a chicken pen? Fence it in and get a flock of chicken. They will eat everything green and not hurt your trees?

That is true about chickens- however the little beasts will trash rhubarb (and not die!), and all of the berries.
However... I will surely be using chickens and ducks if I can't find anything else better!

Beeone- ye it is a swamp weed- I live about 2' elevation above the water table- and it's roots go down for it. It is a symptom of a problem, and the way my property is situated- I have to work with it- as proper ditching will not work here.

Is that a water table that fluctuates, or is it permanent? I'm wondering how ridging might affect your weed problem- it would certainly help the fruit trees I would think.

Even done by hand shovel, you can make a tremendous difference for a single tree in less then an hour (in soil unencumbered with your canary grass anyway). An 8' diameter raised mound on which you established a mowed orchard grass might solve your problem- even if the canary grass florished in the ditches created by the raised mounds. Or with a back-hoe you could easily create ridged orchard rows which would be still better.

If your soil tends to become soggy late in the season and on wet years this would probably be the only way to have a really productive orchard of well anchored trees and high quality fruit anyway. I've often sucessfully established orchards on poorly drained sites this way.

Only with a generally non-fluctuating water-table would your site be very useful for quality fruit production I would think. I have read of productive orchards near the banks of the Mississipi River that fit this description.

Quite a few years ago I had problems with different weeds that I simply could not control. My husband used to be a flatbed trucker. In the area I wanted the most control on the weeds, I put down one of his old tarps. These are incredibly heavy duty and absolutely nothing would grow under or through them. You could dig holes in the areas you wanted plants (after leaving them long enough to completely smother the plants) and then put your plants through the holes. I would then think a thin layer of mulch would make them look prettier but I didn't bother.

Hi dirtslinger2!

The mention of chickens makes me remember that my grandpa used geese to weed his berry patches. Grandpa would pen the birds in the berry patches when flowers and fruit were not eminent. It worked well, plus we had eggs to eat and manure to compost. We had chickens too, but I cannot recall if they were used for weeding. I donÂt think so  we had bantys and they were rather free roaming - seemed to like roosting best in the neighborÂs trees. LOL.

Regards,
PoseyPlanter

My Dad swore by geese for controlling Johnson grass, but Mom wouldn't have them and so I got sent out with the scythe.

Some weed control work is being done using sheep- they'll eat leafy spurge and spotted knapweed, a couple of particularly difficult weeds we have around here, and they're pretty good at knocking them down.