Ideas for groundcover under sweet gum w/exposed roots?
faerybutterflye
11 years ago
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sammy zone 7 Tulsa
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Dogwood roots
Comments (8)Toronado, yes I certainly could re mulch and I may end up doing that if I can't find a better solution. I guess I'm just looking for a more permanent solution. I'm not sure how fast it washed away, we just got the house last year and I didn't put anything under it. I don't think it's too much of a hill that it would wash away in just one storm. Ken I wouldn't be planting under the whole length of the driveway. Just under the dogwoods and between them where it's sort of shady. About 75 of those feet of length of the driveway are junipers which are in almost decent shape, the rest of it is in full sun that I need to figure out what to do with. I'll take a pic tomorrow if I can get out there before the snow. I'd be hand watering with a watering can. I wouldn't mind mulching after planting, since it would have something to hold it there Knuttle I haven't thought about the fact that these trees might already get enough water... They very well may have enough. But the roots being so exposd just doesn't seem right at all. I'll take a pic. The trees are probably 25 years old that's when the lot was cut out of the farmland and the house was built and they bloomed nicely last year so seem to be in ok shape....See MoreWhat to do w/ shady, muddy clay slope? (pics)
Comments (13)I would stay away from plants which will spread via underground roots in a situation where you are gardening close a neighbour's property - unless you want to create the ultimate enemy. And since this neighbour is using round-up, by him/her spraying the stuff that comes in their yard, you could have a real battle on your hands. Do a search Pasychandra and Goutweed. You will find that both are considered invasive, the Goutweed more so than the Pasychandra. In terms of the Goutweed, after established, removing it becomes a task that takes years. If you so much as leave one little tiny piece of root in the ground, it will take. Snuffing it with 18 inches of mulch and cardboard and landscape fabric won't work either. Ask my neighbour... Goutweed can also cause skin irritations. I'll second the mulching idea. If you are concerned that the mulch will be eroded by the rain, place some rocks here and there. If you have some compost which is just partially finished, that would be great - the worms will move in and start working your clay soil. Shredded leaves are also a blessing in such and area. I would start with hostas. They are tough beautiful plants and they will grow in clay. Next spring, I would plant some nice ferns - Cinnamon Ferns and such. As the soil becomes easier to work with since the mulching will give it more organic matter and make it nice, you can start adding Columbines, Thalictrum, Bleeding Heart, Astilbes, etc. In regards to the neighbour, you might try talking to them. Maybe offer to take care of the area yourself, suggesting a mulched area. All you'd really have to do is put down some cardboard and then place about a foot of bark mulch on top. Throughout the summer, just monitor the area for the occasional weed... It would be nice if you could have some of the small spindly trees removed... But that's a DH issue which I won't touch. LOL!! :O)...See MoreSweet Potatoes in the Garden
Comments (63)I can share a little about curing sweet potatoes. The main reason for curing them is to allow the skin to dry/heal up from any scrapes or bug damage. The skin will change a bit during curing and once cured, the potato will keep longer. First-Once dug, let the potatoes dry off a bit and dust off the dirt, then there are several alternatives for further curing... For fast and really good curing they say keeping them between 80 and 85 F and between 80 and 85 % Relative humidity for a few days is supposed to heal up their skin really good and keep them from shriveling. Older methods I've read for curing include just leaving them layed out to dry for a period of time. (If they start to shrivel, they won't keep as long though.) Put them in crates or boxes and cover over with a blanket or something keep them at room temperature and not too dry for a few weeks. Put them in a bin with a towel or blanket over it. If it is too dry, you can moisten the towel or blanket a bit. Keep that in a warm place for a couple weeks Finally, storing sweet potatoes. I've heard that they will store longest and best at a temperatures between 49 and 60 F and Relative humidity between 40% and 60%. They will also keep pretty well at room temperature in most of our houses here in Florida. I've stored lots of my sweet potatoes in paper grocery sacks in our spare room. I've noticed that sweet potatoes cooked right after being pulled from the ground tend to be drier and less sweet than the ones that have been stored for a couple weeks or longer. All the sweet potatoes I've grown for the past couple years have been from a grocery store potato I got a couple years ago and started using the toothpicks and glass jar method. We have gotten some huge yields of sweet potatoes. It doesn't seem that there are very many pests of sweet potatoes though it is probably good to rotate where you grow them so as not to build up any diseases in one part of the garden. They don't seem to need huge amounts of fertilizer but good organic matter added to sandy soil seems to be a good thing for them. I have found that they likely plenty of water at least up until shortly before harvest time. I do notice a fair amount of bug damage and holes in lots of the potatoes I've dug this season but that isn't slowing me down. Most of those taters are still gonna be just fine for eating even if you couldn't sell them at market. Another tasty way to eat sweet potatoes is to slice them up thin, give em a spritz of cooking spray and spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake. Think of em as sweet potato french frys. And yes the leaves are also edible in stir fry or salads it is great (especially since there are very few greens that grow well down here in summer.) You can also use sweet potatoes in just about any way that Irish potatoes are used. We also use sweet potatoes in stir frys or even on kabobs. Sweet potato is very easy and well suited to our hot wet Florida climate and loves the hot summers to boot! A definite must for a Florida veggie garden and could save people from hunger in hard times too. Here is a link that might be useful: TCLynx...See MoreIdeas for GC under sweet gum w/exposed roots?
Comments (2)I realize this post was a while ago, but I just saw it today. Anyway, if you're still looking for answers, we had a similar issue, although our tree was surrounded by grass. The roots came up just like your photo, making mowing a real headache. Last fall we had a bunch of landscaping done and the solution for this problem was to add a couple of inches of top soil and plant ground cover in that. We had a whole bunch of vinca that we needed to move from another bed so that's what we put in. It seems to be settling in nicely. From what we learned at that time, the key point is to cover the roots by no more than 2 inches of soil but that adding that amount should be okay. You might want to verify that advice yourself, but so far (10 months later) tree and vinca seem to be doing fine....See Moresammy zone 7 Tulsa
11 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
11 years agofaerybutterflye
11 years agomksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
11 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
11 years agofaerybutterflye
11 years agofaerybutterflye
11 years agofaerybutterflye
11 years agoOkiedawn OK Zone 7
11 years agofaerybutterflye
11 years ago
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faerybutterflyeOriginal Author