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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Grass taking over pots and raised borders how do I get it out it's very tough to pull or yank or dog

9 replies

Alternativelyviewed · 07/04/2026 22:39

As above any tips of getting rid of grass that's taken over borders and pots ?

OP posts:
highlandponymummy · 08/04/2026 06:25

Following as I've got the same issue

Billybagpuss · 08/04/2026 06:39

pots empty the pot and refresh, if it’s a large perennial or tree just clean the roots and completely refresh the compost and repot.

with the borders I tend to tackle them in 25 minutes bursts. What are you wanting to do in them, easiest is to buy loads more compost, skim off and discard as much of the grass as possible then cover with cardboard, wet the cardboard and cover with compost. You can plant summer bedding easily in that and if you want to plant heavier plants you can work around it. The cardboard represses the weeds.

over the years of this method the soil gets much easier to work, you will get persistent weeds like couch grass that you need to keep on top of, but little and often keeps them down.

EasterDecoration · 08/04/2026 06:46

I have this at my allotment. I dig out as much as possible either with a digging fork for really big clumps or sitting down with a hand fork for small clumps and other weeds. I aim for a square metre or so at a time, little and often and find it quite relaxing in a mindful sort of way. Cardboard amd compost does work, it doesn't completely kill off couch grass but significantly weakens it. Tricky if you have things like bulbs and small perennials trying to pop up though.

Billybagpuss · 08/04/2026 07:42

EasterDecoration · 08/04/2026 06:46

I have this at my allotment. I dig out as much as possible either with a digging fork for really big clumps or sitting down with a hand fork for small clumps and other weeds. I aim for a square metre or so at a time, little and often and find it quite relaxing in a mindful sort of way. Cardboard amd compost does work, it doesn't completely kill off couch grass but significantly weakens it. Tricky if you have things like bulbs and small perennials trying to pop up though.

The cardboard breaks down enough in around 3 months to allow bulbs to come through, perennials you need to cut a hole for, it’s all about the timing.

EasterDecoration · 08/04/2026 09:14

Yes, definitely depends on the timing, I did it a bit late last year (just after Christmas) and it hadn't broken down but that was at the allotment where there are no bulbs or perennials, so I just planted everything through holes, but I found when I was lifting the remaining bits of card that the bindweed had gone rampant under it.

I bought one of those weedpullers for dandelions but it was no use as it just broke off the tap roots, I never used it on grass clumps, but it was good for buttercups, might try it on small grass clumps. But I do actually like sitting on the ground digging them out with a handfork.

begonefoulclutter · 08/04/2026 23:26

Couch grass is a bastard. Whe you're tackling any grass in beds, you need to time it right, so the soil is neither soggy or too dry. Then you sometimes have at least a half a chance of pulling up some of the couch grass runners.

40 years. 40 bloody years I've been fighting it in my front garden, and just when I think I've won...

Alternativelyviewed · 10/04/2026 08:08

Thanks everyone some good advice. Tackling it in small chunks is a good idea.

I guess after this season then I need to lay cardboard down to stop it growing !

OP posts:
EasterDecoration · 14/04/2026 14:53

I took my weedpuller to the allotment and tried it on the little clumps of grass, it's certainly useful in places you can't sit such as in amongst strawberry plants, but it doesn't get the grass out totally. Good for rosette type weeds.

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