Oxalis eradication
Maldonmarie
18 years ago
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18 years agoAnnie_qld
18 years agoRelated Discussions
Oxalis and Ruellia under roses
Comments (33)Josh, I've been growing oxalis crassipes (pink flowers, gray-green foliage) around my roses for years. I use them to edge several beds, and I've never had them get out of control. If they start to creep too close to the roses (I have mulch directly under the roses), I just dig some for the next person who asks for a start. I also grow oxalis triangularis (lavender flowers, very dark purple/black foliage) which some people grow in pots. It does perfectly well here in the ground. I have it in only one bed where I have other bulbs planted that grow up through during the various seasons. This oxalis has never jumped the edging. It's far less vigorous than oxalis crassipes. Once upon a time I grew oxalis regnellii (white flowers, gray-green foliage). It was the least vigorous of the three. I'm not sure I even have any left. All of the ones I mentioned were about 5-7 inches tall and grew into a solid groundcover. I believe I bought my oxalis at a favorite nursery in Cedar Hill (that has since closed - they had lovely old roses), but I have also seen oxalis in many, many places in the Metroples - even the big box stores. Sometimes it is located with the shade plants so you might look there. The only drawback to oxalis crassipes is that it browns and disappears when the temps are in the 90s - if - the bed is in full sun. It stays vigorous in my partially shaded beds, and of course thrives with plenty of moisture. The oxalis triangularis is in a partially shaded bed so I don't know if it disappears in the very hot sun. This trait of disappearing doesn't bother me; usually I have enough other things growing that no one notices that the oxalis is not there. But everyone does notice when it is there. Hope this helps some. If you like the look, I recommend it for North Central Texas. Lou...See MoreOxalis eradication
Comments (3)Thanks! I did search the other forums for oxalis and what I found was not encouraging. There does seem to be one chemical that is narrow in scope, not too toxic, and works on oxalis, called "chickweed-be-gone." But I think I'll find out more about it first. Wouldn't want to find that it is like Round-Up and turns all your iris white! Meanwhile, I'll keep pulling. I have screwdriver-like weeding tool to get the whole fleshy root, but I'm always worried about slicing the iris roots....See MoreEradicating Buttercups
Comments (4)There are many species of Ranculcus called buttercups. The above idea to smother them with cardboard is a good one. You could also get out your shovel and dig them up. Whether you have the annual or perennial kind, there are probably many seeds on the ground that will be ready to sprout when the conditions allow it. So smothering might be best in that case. Cover the cardboard with mulch, and maybe put a single shrub (just 1 hole in the cardboard where you can easily control sprouts by pulling) so it doesn't look like an "empty space." You can maintain this space by simply pulling weeds when they sprout in the mulch (from seeds dropped by birds and blown by wind) and adding more mulch once every year or two, or let it decompose so the grass can creep back in....See MoreSide note to getting rid of bermuda-How do you get rid of Oxalis?
Comments (9)The common yellow oxalis we have here has tiny "bulbules" (sp?), which lurk 12 -18 inches under the ground. You can easily pull up the plants, of course, but those tiny bulb things stay under the soil, and up it comes again. I once had a gardener who decided to eradicate it from a flower bed which is about 12 feet long and 6 feet wide. He actually dug up the top 2 feet of soil, and sifted it by hand to get all of the tiny bulbs out. That worked for the first year, but by 2-3 years after he did that, back the oxalis came. So, being lazy, what I do is just admire it in the Spring, except where it is trying to smother other plants. Then just pull it out around those plants. By late Spring here it has died down, and I pretend it is gone. Of course, it comes up again the next Spring. It is one of our first blooming plants to bloom (starts Jan/Feb), so I just regard it as such and let it be mostly. One of my cats likes to eat it (we used to eat it as children - we called it "sour grass"). Jackie...See MoreUser
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