grass

How can i get rid of grass around a rose, I've tried digging the grass out but it still comes back.

 

Really deep mulch combined with a bit of hand weeding?

 

Yes, I always find that pulling weeds is easy right after a good rain too.

 

Thanks @PetalsonthePavingSlabs, @wiseowl and @CanadianLori , I'll do all three.

 

Wrap stems or protect from drift and spray with glyphosate. A one off effective treatment. I found pulling grass usually leaves much of the root system that encroaches further

 

No problem WO

 

Thanks @Verdun but i'm not sure about that, I've got a lot of plants.

I think i'll have to keep pulling it out and cover with a thick mulch and maybe some plastic.

 

Thats ok Logan....​

 

Logan hows the grass removing going?...I've got some form of red leaved weed that keeps growing around my one lavender plant down the back and it flowers white like small daises and yesterday I used a tool to rake through it because of the lining and gravel but as soon as it's moved it's there again.
I'll add a shot on the forum when it forms again which won't be long

 

It's still there, haven't had much time to do anything to it. I've covered it with some cardboard, don't know if that will do it, thanks for asking.

Yes put a pic up so that we can see it.

 

Logan I hope it does it for you mate, have you noticed things you don't want in your garden are a nightmare to shift

I'll add a pic as it spreads quickly I've noticed after a good pour down

 

The big fear probably is getting involved with the rose thorns. So why is it that grass appears to be attracted to the base of roses? Well if you care for your roses, you probably feed them. Rose feeds usually contain plenty of nitrogen, funny enough so does grass. So for starters, like atracts like. Next. Despite you repeatedly remove or attempt to remove the unwanted fescue, it soon returns. Most grasses and especially that which loves our roses is usually shallow rooted but if left, can develop a tight ball of fairly fine roots. As a point of interest. Couch grass is a much tougher candidate, the roots can go deep and it produces underground runners or stolons. The latter will react much like the roots of Convulvus major. Fair to say. Having weeded out, some roots remain.

We gardeners are so concerned about mulching. Sadly getting the hoe out and lightly breaking up the soil surface often skips our mind. Well worth doing.

Using weed killers. I find it difficult when giving advice to a couple of friends, when perhaps a difference of opinions exist. The use of Glysophate sooner or later comes into the equation. Glysophate is for annual broad-leaf plants and weeds. I doubt very much if treating grass around rose bushes would be harmful. The porous structure of the the trunk/woody part of the rose is unlikely to be affected by the spray. The chemical acts through the plant tissue down to the roots. Contact with the soil neutralises it. Preparations containing glysophate will not kill seeds in the soil. Proof of this is. You can treat an area of weeds and straight away sow your seeds. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks @Mike Allen that's very helpful.
I do feed the roses and it's a fine leaf grass.Only in one patch of the garden. I do have couch grass in another part, as you say it's hard to get rid of. Keep pulling it out but it's back again. A neaghbour said that it won't grow deeper than 4 inches, but it's growing through the perennial plants. I'd have to dig them up and try to get it out.