Yates Zero Super Concentrate Weedkiller
An extremely effective, easy and economical way to control weeds and grasses. Kills weeds, roots and all.
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Elytrigia repens
Couch/Twitch Elytrigia repens
What is Couch/Twitch?
Known as couch in the North island and twitch in the South, it's a tufty-looking creeping perennial grass species. It's very invasive, spreading aggressively by pushing out long white-coloured rhizomes (runners) under the soil. Also known as common couch, quackgrass or witchgrass overseas, this species has become a weedy pest in many countries.
Couch is quick to take advantage of areas of disturbed soil and can regrow from small fragments of rhizome, which helps it take over bare soil very quickly. Couch can be challenging to remove from garden beds, as the rhizomes become entangled in the roots of desirable plants. If this happens it's difficult to weed out the wiry rhizomes without damaging other plants.
In lawns and pasture, couch quickly dominates and robs nutrients and moisture from more desirable grass species.
Couch goes dormant through winter and may brown off, but has a vigorous growth spurt in spring.
Couch/Twitch Elytrigia repens
Although you might find the mere mention of couch triggering, if it's in someone else's lawn it might not be as bad as it seems! Confusingly, the visually similar grass Cynodon dactylon is also known as couch or twitch in NZ. This species, also known as Indian doab or Bermuda grass, is a legitimate choice as a hardy lawn grass (although it's also classed as a weed by many gardeners). You can spot the difference, because weedy Elytrigia couch doesn't have visible stolons (runners) above-ground, while Cynodon dactylon and other running grasses do have above-ground runners.
Weedy Elytrigia couch is often mistaken for ryegrass, as the leaves and seed heads look quite similar. This explains why couch is such a pest in pasture, as it can get established and start to crowd out ryegrass before it gets noticed. If you look closely, ryegrass usually has red-coloured stems, while couch doesn't. Couch leaves feel 'harder' or stiffer to the touch than ryegrass.
How to control Couch/Twitch
Couch/twitch is challenging to control in lawns: because it's a true grass species, most selective lawn weedkillers won't affect it.
A minimum-damage option for lawns is to is to carefully pull up rhizomes from the soil without breaking them, then dab Yates Zero Super Concentrate Weedkiller onto the rhizomes and leaf crowns using a small paint brush (gloves and eye protection are essential for this job). Please be aware this technique will kill lawn grass immediately around the treated area, but it causes less collateral damage to lawn grass than spot-spraying.
If couch has invaded large areas of lawn or pasture, spot-spraying it and over-sowing the resulting dead patch with fresh grass seed may be the most practical option. Spot-spray with Yates Zero Super Concentrate Weedkiller with added Yates Zero Pulse Penetrant to enhance uptake of the weedkiller.
In gardens and roadside situations, carefully spot-spray the couch/twitch with Yates Zero Super Concentrate Weedkiller, with Yates Zero Pulse Penetrant added to allow optimum weedkiller penetration into the weeds.
Areas impacted
- Garden beds
- Lawns
- Pasture
- Disturbed ground
- Roadsides
Yates Zero Pulse Penetrant
Improves the penetration, spread and adhesion of Yates Zero Weedkillers on difficult to kill weeds with waxy or hard to wet surfaces.
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