Goutweed substitute?
Monika6
21 years ago
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carlos
21 years agoMonika6
21 years agoRelated Discussions
Edging/Border ideas between shade bed and gravel drive
Comments (51)ColMuldrow, I think you have had a lot of suggestions here for things to do IN the beds and you were looking for things to OUTLINE the beds. No one has really addressed the virtue of your idea of outlining the beds, and I think the message in that is that outlining them may or may not be a good design decision. Could you maybe tell us what is driving your desire to outline them? That would assist in a design discussion... this being a landscape design forum. And in design, purpose often drives decision-making. For me there is some confusion, as I may have suggested in my post, between the image of what you have, and what you want to achieve. What you have is kind of hard to argue with, and because of its dominant nature, trying to put a different kind of landscaping underneath it would have a bit of a futile feel to it. And so, a tidily outlined bed would have a slightly surreal feeling to me in this setting. It is obviously your yard and your preferences will prevail, but given that you've chosen a landscape design forum rather than either a plant forum or a local nursery for advice, I'm afraid that does drive the kind of advice you'll get (unless the conversation turns to ivy...). That said, there are not many plants that will stay exactly where you want them to in the conditions you have here; at least, it may depend on the trees, but I don't think so. Plants travel in response to where they find moisture and light and nutrients. Areas under trees are notoriously short of these attributes, and you may find a carefully planted edge wandering from where you laid it. That is why I suggested a physical edge, which if nothing else would create moisture-retaining areas in the soil that would keep plants inclined to stay where you put them, and allow you to correct if they wander. Yardvaark, I thought we were all going to try to get along. The key to doing that is, I think, in your last remark where you characterize opposing advice as an attack. It is not, and regarding it as such will always lead where this thread has led. Opposing advice, even if it criticizes advice previously given, is just the way the cookie crumbles when you ask a room full of people who are not an organization or hierarchy of any kind for advice. You will not get a single answer, the answers may disagree, and as the asker, you simply have to sort that out and the people in the room have to come to terms with being disagreed with. You could have opposed my advice to use ferns on some basis, and I would not have regarded that as at attack on me, but rather as contextualizing the advice I gave the OP. I might have responded, or reiterated, but probably not if I thought your additional advice enhanced the OP's ability to evaluate the option. I don't regard it as an attack on me when someone denigrates my ingrained aversion to foundation planting; I simply see it as a good thing that the OP gets a variety of advice. If all else fails, we should all be addressing the OP, and not each other. Karin L...See MoreWhat do I hate more than drought itself?
Comments (32)Poaky, I know what you're saying and I agree. I work a K-State Master Gardener hotline regularly, and it seems like the majority of our calls and visits concerning trees can be tied back to the drought from the last two years. If the problems aren't directly related to insufficient moisture, they are due to trees being so stressed that they are more vulnerable to pests and diseases. Trunk problems are a particular concern. We see so many more of those lately, and they are usually fatal. Theonly tree I didn't bother watering was a silver maple in our front yard, It came with the house, I don't like it, my husband loves it, and the trunk is now split and full of little bracket fungi. So it will have to go (yayyy!). The homeowners I have spoken with are often surprised that their trees need supplemental water. In our own landscape, we are still watering trees planted two and three years ago, even in dry winters. It's a pain, and it gets really expensive. One of our water bills last summer was over a thousand dollars, but my husband I agree that our trees and shrubs are an INVESTMENT. They cost a lot to put in, they cost a lot to remove when they die, and the blank spots they leave are very depressing. So all we can do at Extension is to continue to pound home the message that lawns need about 1/4" of moisture every 7-10 days to keep them dormant and alive, and trees need much more than that -- especially when there are wide cracks in the soil over their root zones. I am not against watering lawns to keep them alive. Many people don't realize lawns will go from dormant to dead, and they're surprised when the rains return and the lawns don't. Renovating a lawn is also very expensive and a royal pain, and growing a new lawn requires an awful lot of regular watering. I would rather use that water to prevent it from dying in the first place. So I watered both the lawn and trees this summer, and thank heaven we got over an inch of rain this morning, because I am TIRED of it....See Morelooking for drought-tolerate groundcover plants
Comments (19)I am in Zone 5 but I have been researching the heck out of ground covering lately. It has become an additive behaviour to be honest. After much reserach I determined that one of the hardiest groundcovering is the VINCA MINOR/ Periwinkle. I bought some from the Home Depot that was already potted. But then I realized that even at a couple of $$$ it can get expensive fast. So guess what I did believe it or not..... I hit EBAY and plugged in Vinca Minor just for the heck of it. One of the many store advertised on Ebay had the best offer I had yet to see on line much less than Jackson & Perkins and other web stores).... Vinca Minor 250 roots for $12.49. YES you heard me 250 vinca roots grown in the field will be sealed, packaged safely and mailed to me for about $13 (gotta hold off on the Starbucks for the day..lol). As a matter of fact I ordered a total of 500 to split with mom. We plan to use them as LAWN SUBSTITUTES. I have a tree with outgrowing roots that will not allow grass to grow. So now I am forced to have a perrenial groundcovering. I say all this to say go for it! Try the vinca minor, get the best price (don't overlook ebay stores), and plant away. Other good websites were: classygroundcovers.com; wilsonbrosnursey.com; michiganbulbs.com, dutchgardens.com; blueskynursery.com, plantdelights.com, waltersgardens.com, northbranchnursery.com; gardenheights.com; jacksonandperkins.com; colorscapesgreenhouse.com Another way is just plug in the question and just see what pops up. Wish me luck with the vinca minor/periwinkle and keep me posted on your status....See MoreGarden pics--week of June 18
Comments (30)Oh, my, everyone's photos have me drooling (and adding to that wish list). Love this time of year - there are new blooms opening every day, it seems. Thrilled to finally have blooms on my peonies. A few were relocated from acreage we used to have and, what I think is Festiva Maxima, is blooming for the first time. It's a delight to come home at the end of the day to be greeted by the scents from the front garden: Iris (unknown variety) that just has a beautiful scent and the shrub roses (also unknown variety but the kind that have survived forever!), along with the peonies (F.M.) in the same bed! Morden Blush is just covered in blooms (please ignore the 'munched on' leaves!). This is not blooming yet, but can hardly wait until it does. This is 'Golden Unicorn' which was a substitute by Lindenberg in 2005's order. Wasn't happy with the substitution, but after counting 23 buds on one stem and 18 on another, I think I've changed my mind. Hopefully they all open. Margaret...See Moremarquest
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