Have you ever heard of couch grass?

What if the most "troublesome" of weeds became our ally to increase the sustainability of our gardens?
In fact, in general, lawns, especially those that are technical or used for sports.
This approach fascinates me greatly, starting from a problem to turn it into the solution of another.

Couch grass, a troublesome weed

There are many sayings that refer to it: "to be like couch grass", "it clings like couch grass", "to feel couch grass growing" ...
All with a negative meaning, stemming from the fact that couch grass is a pervasive weed, difficult to eradicate, because it withstands heat, drought, foot traffic, and many other stressors that challenge "classic lawn species".

What if we used these "negative" aspects with a positive twist?

This approach is not a novelty of recent years; seed companies and industry technicians have been working on it for quite some time, but it is the approach I have always liked and find brilliant: using a problem to find an opportunity.
Thus, some varieties of Cynodon dactylon (the scientific name of Couch grass) have been selected for being aesthetically better and are being used and proposed in areas that traditionally used "cool-season" grass species, with Poa and Ryegrass being the most notable.

What are the advantages of maintaining couch grass?

Above all, greater resistance to high temperatures and drought, thus less water consumption for irrigation (up to 30%).
Furthermore, their growth slows down at low temperatures, so in February-March, but also in October-November now, mowing is less frequent compared to cool-season grasses.

Disadvantage?

That it is also the problem for which it has been little used so far: with low temperatures, the lawn turns completely yellow.
However, there are application areas where lawns are not used in winter, such as amusement parks with swimming pools, many home gardens, or other examples.
Another thing to consider is climate change: with the autumn temperatures of recent years, in northern Italy, "couch grass" turns yellow much later than a few decades ago and becomes green in spring much earlier.

Also here, genetic improvement and hybrids with other species have done and are doing a great job to have grass types that are more resistant to cold and can cover almost the entire seasonal period, even in northern Italy.
This is another example of how the sustainability of a system is based on careful design.

ps. Did you know that "Couch grass" is also a typical pasta shape from Emilia Romagna? Yes, and the name comes precisely from its shape resembling the seed of this grass.