Fighting Quack Grass

Some of the plots at Eagle Height Community Gardens are infested with quack grass. Quack grass sends out long roots and every now and then shoots up a tough blade of grass. With time it can make a garden into an impenetrable and ungardenable mass of roots.

When faced with a plot full of quack, the first impulse of many gardeners is to rototill it. The problem with rototilling is that it simply cuts the roots into thousands of tiny cuttings, each of which then becomes a new plant. Plus, you have aerated and loosened the soil, making perfect conditions for explosive quack growth.

The garden worker will not till quack grass.

Your best choice for long term removal of grass:

Weeding by hand: while the soil is still nice and moist (i.e. early spring) turn over a shovel-full of soil, break it up, and pull out all the quack roots. Repeat. Try to find the Zen of it. This can be very time consuming. Try to do a small area each time you work in your plot.