What's wrong with couch grass in a lawn? Hardy, tough, great summer dormancy ( I encourage a toasted-golden lawn). It is an alien & invasive species, but so is almost everything in any lawn. Why kill weak grass? If it is too weak - it will die out by itself. There are many, many approaches to lawns - Mine is to encourage a variety of species - most of them not grass. Mow it high (3" or more). Leave the thatch. Don't water it at all. Enjoy the several species of flowers in the spring/summer - enjoy the moss in winter, enjoy the bugs & birds it attracts. One of my friends around the corner has a "putting green" lawn - we argue! What can I say? Apart from the obvious -that he is prissy, old-fashioned. he wastes his time & it's a boring thing he creates...oops -I think my opinions are showing. He says I am messy, lazy & the dandelion seeds from my "lawn" infect his...he could be right, but I like it the way it is & I don't have to spray or fertilize or mess with it too much - he does. anon125 - you just have to hope that someone with a more serious approach to lawns replies - sorry about that! gb.
Given our recent water situation here. Lawns went right out of fashion. Many people are now growing drought resistant grasses that need little mowing/watering or have turned their grass to paving, coloured gravels or flower /shrubbery beds even moss with linking paths to gravel or paved areas. SOrt of rooms if you will. http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2986697.htm There are some great ideas amongst the video clips and stories that might help to think outside the square http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/video/ Liz
generally couch grass is a prostrate grass that thrives on frequent shallow watering and a lawn that is regularly mowed too short, cultural chagnes such as decreasing the mowing frequency, allowing the lawn to grow thicker (overseed) and higher as well as changing the watering regime (where Ma nature isnt in charge of it) to an infrequent deep watering. That said, I also agree that lawns are a waste of energy and resources, tolerance of non turfgrass species should be encouraged.
Renalof is a "new" proven treatment for treatment of kidney stones, and currently under clinical trial for gall stones. Ingredients: Agropyron repens, Elymus repens , Graminis rhizoma , Triticum repens . Family: Gramineae (grasses), Corn Starch, Magnesium Stearate At $90 for 90 capsules taken 3 per day according to directions, but I couldn't see the mg. The clinical trial had 325 mg tablets every 8 hours with results within months. Not bad. Even with our great health care system, it's a lot cheaper to pay for 4 months of capsules than missing work or hiring caregivers, or worse, being unaware and just developing cancer! I found your site while searching for online source to purchase renalof or couch grass supplements. Along with dandelion root, which is already in many commercial "greens" nutritional supplements, I would rather see more research done to promote sustainable cultivation of proven remedies, giving more power and responsibility to the individual for their health. And don't even get me started on hemp. Try nutsonline for seeds with the hull intact for $3/pound and they deliver to Canada. Maybe I'll suggest they get couch grass. Don't kill the cure!
I can find no peer-reviewed papers on the efficacy of renalof. All of the clinical studies I can find are hosted on the product's web site, suggesting that it hasn't undergone rigorous testing for efficacy or side-effects -- not the sort of thing I would call a "proven remedy".
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=renalof (completed and recruiting clinical study on US National Institutes of Health website) http://www.mdidea.com/products/proper/proper079paper.html (couch grass information which really is the point, isn't it?) * Being a food**, and not a drug or chemical treatment, I wouldn't expect or want the rigorous testing standard to be a proven the same standards, in order for the crop to be save from extinction, and consumed for health purposes***. Ultimately, each person has to prove things to themselves. (Where is the warning label on government approved liquor?) Being a responsible member of society means we promote those opportunities by making the resources available to people, and by participating in clinical studies that may need those products. -------------------------------------------------------------------
A clinical trial does not equate to a peer-reviewed paper on the efficacy. The trial is the beginning of a process, but if the methods, observations, statistics and analysis aren't peer-reviewed and published, there isn't anything to back up "proven" remedies. Since these forums are part of a scientific institution, the expectation is that information shared can be scrutinized for scientific validity. We are in agreement that more research could and should be done on these species.
That really scares me. I don't like conventional lawns, but at least they are a living thing. Are we really trying to change this living planet into a dead one?
