Pink wild clover - okay to let it just grow?
brit5467
13 years ago
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schoolhouse_gw
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Okay, I'll say it - I just don't like ground cover...
Comments (49)I have some love/hate groundcovers myself. I think the biggest criteria for my love/hate ratio is the combination of how it grows (fast/slow) and where it is located. i.e. not all fast growers are hated if they are in the right place I just pulled out about 100 sq ft of pachasandra because it just got everywhere. I will miss it in the winter. (pre-snowcover). I have a huge patch of bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) that spreads very quickly, but it is in a part-shade woody tree-shrub area and it really seems to fit the woodland less-manicured feel. I also suspect it would be hard to eradicate if I wanted to. It has those thin roots that go everwhere and break easily. But I love it where it is. I have creeping veronica Waterperry in a perennial bed and it stays put nicely. Love it. I also have Georgia Blue but it is much more aggressive. I have to pull it back severely twice a year. Dislike it (but not enough to remove it). I have a gold variegated one that barely grows. I moved it this year to a new place it may do better. Lamium 'Pink Nancy' wanders and blends in nicely. It pulls out easily if it wanders too far. Love it. Ajuga, love it in bloom (have Choc Chip and Crispa Metallica). Neutral otherwise. Need to have something interesting (and strong) nearby. I'm trying out Hosta Kabitan. Thymes... love the daintiness... hate that they don't suppress weeds so well. Geranium Biokova... I consider that more as a specimen perennial than a groundcover, but I can see it is somewhat of both. Love it. Sedge, Treasure Island...grows slowly, love it because it can go anywhere safely, but unless it is cut back with other perennials, it looks messy far into spring until the new growth covers the old stuff. Cutting back a groundcover is not a fun thing. I used to when I had a little, but now its out of the question. I enjoyed and saved this old thread about groundcovers in link below. I haven't read it in a while, but it might be interesting after reading this thread....See MoreID for Unknown Wild Pink Climber
Comments (12)Great picture! What a beautiful scene! I totally agree on the pot! I have 9 (i think, might be missing one by memory... way too many) still in pots to be planted! I never rooted roses before that bunch two winters ago and had almost all root, so I had a bunch of plants. Some doubles. I rooted them in the late summer/fall and grew them under lights all winter, then set them out in the spring into gallon pots. All grew. I potted them into bigger pots to overwinter as I had no place to put them anyway. All lived. Then last summer I hoped to see at least one bloom on something, but not a one!! They were all marked, but some I was not so sure on. This year, every one of them finally bloomed!! (I have a couple more to id, BTW.) I have put a couple in the ground and have arranged places for others and I totally agree they need to be put in asap. I was not ready for all the new growth, way more growth than the first summer. I should have been as I know they put down great root systems, but was not thinking straight and was sure they would have been in by now. Part of the problem is me having to be very strategic on placement due to sun, living in a rental space, and having to arrange pillars. Exactly what you suggested, Jacqueline, the pillar is what I need to work out for this one. The yard has some existing "pillars" old fence posts from long gone fences, I assume. There are two square shaped holes in the existing stone wall bordering a walkway, which in my rampant imagination like to think held 4x4's that once were pillars of an arbor. Getting new 4x4's in there would be perfect, except for the existing plantings nearby, and the cost. Mainly the cost, and how to get it done right. I think it looks easier said than done, and I am doing this by myself, mostly, and have not really figured out a way to do it. Especially the cost to me being as I don't even own the place! I am always freaking about about where to plant stuff as I am never sure if a new tree is going to be cut down, or if I trellis something on the fence or house if some dudes will show up in a big truck marked "new fence guys" or "gutter install". Maybe not likely but has happened and never ends up well for whatever is planted nearby. Nobody working here seems to give a crap if nobody is watching them who they are actually paid by, I don't think. You can not imagine how many damn branches the cable and phone guys have ripped off the holly tree. You would think by now they could reach the damn pole with one side being bare! But, no! Every time, they find the need to tear off another branch. WTF? Drives me insane!! Earlier this season I went out front after roofers were here to find a big hatchet in the garden bed out front. Thrown from the roof! Right thru the main arm of a low growing conifer I had just moved there trying to save it from an ivy ridden spot. Chopped it right off. Pretty much a goner now, it is. They even left the hatchet behind! They threw it so far away they must have forgotten about it. Brand new, it was, too. Aside from a little tar, perfect condition. Um, and sharp! I added it to my garden tools and used it a week later to chop out two stumps, so something good came of it. Sort of. Oh well, that is the chance I take gardening here. Either way, I agree they need to get out of the pots asap! Working on that today, along with the long list of other chores in the garden. I have a spot that could be great for this climber, unfortunately I designated it as the one spot for the trash cans dedicated to the downstairs neighbors compost leaves. I got tired of them on the patio so moved them behind the fireplace by an existing pillar. The area needs some serious work, but it can be done. Hopefully in time to get this in the ground and running really soon!...See Moreletting a lawn go partially wild
Comments (9)dav8, I love what you are doing with your lawn. Having grown up in a time when not only crickets but bugs of all kinds, and fireflies were everywhere, I miss that. I'm sure you are taking a step in that direction. We did install a very small ecolawn about 12 years ago. We did it ourselves and sent away for a special seed blend that had short grasses and some wildflowers, in it. We did try to leave it without mowing it but it never quite worked out. A lot of the flowering aspects of the lawn just seemed to peter out except for some achillea that seems to take over too much and the grasses were just too tall to let go. It looked awful. It was in the front yard. In our backyard, we have the original lawn that was here when we moved in. I think that looks better than the front. It has clover in it and we have your average amount of dandelions and violets which we ignore for the most part. Mosses grow in from the shady edges and it must have been a short variety because it doesn't get that tall and we don't have to mow it that often. We do have a small property but I wish I had a larger one, that I could leave some areas further away from the house to grow into a meadow, which I love. I think it would be fun to experiment, but I'm afraid it would be a lot more work than I would have time to invest, to get it to where I would be happy with it. My compromise is that just this year I started planting small bulbs in the lawn and I hope to leave the grass longer as long as I can in the spring, to 'cure' the foliage after bloom to keep them coming back. I also plan to add more clover to the lawn by overseeding it in places and continue to let the mosses grow into it. The local bunnies visit and eat the clover. I wish I had more positive personal experience to share. I wonder if you have checked out the natives forum? Maybe someone over there might have tried that. I would love to know what has started to grow in to your lawn area where you have let it go for two years? I don't suppose you have any photos?...See MoreJust let the Dandelions go??
Comments (8)I am willing to bet the soil in those spots is compacted and likely out of chemical balance. The dandelions will dig deep roots and will help naturally aerate the soil while simultaneously bringing up nutrients that may be deficient (eg calcium) to the surface area. Some folks love the look of dandelions. If you love them, leave them. Like others have mentioned, if you keep the turf mowed high and you water deeply but infrequently, your bluegrass should be able to crowd out future weeds. If you are like most lawn care nuts and can't stand weeds in the lawn, you could use a weed popper or pro plugger to remove the dandelions. Or you could use a broadleaf weed killer (eg Ortho Weed B Gon) to spot spray them....See Moremosswitch
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