Starting a wildflower garden using micro clover instead of grass?
waterstar
10 years ago
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dbarron
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowaterstar
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Crimson Clover, Buckwheat, Vetch and other not so cottage garden
Comments (9)One year I had planted some crimson clover as a round garden in the middle of the lawn. It was a defined gardenbed as I had put in edging. One day my neighbor asked me when I was going to pull those weeds as they were so ugly. No one wanted to believe that I actually planted them there. Actually the crimson clover is really very pretty. I guess I was lucky that no one noticed all the brown millet and white millet I also used to have as ornimental grasses. When I used to have a larger space for my veggie garden (before I started putting daylily gardens at both ends) I used to plant buckwhet in a space that was about 4 feet wide by 14 feet long. I thought of it as my space to attract bees....See MoreNew 50' x 50' wildflower garden help
Comments (21)Since your seeds were labeled as "North American Natives", it seems like they surely must be natives. Hope so! Usually when you see mixed seeds at a box store, they say "wildflowers" rather than "natives". You may get some plants that you don't like but I think you should go ahead and plant them. You'll undoubtedly get some that you DO like. Orange Butterfly Weed (asclepias tuberosa) is hard to beat. It blooms a long time, attracts butterflies and shows up well from a distance. That one may be in the seed mix that you bought as well as purple coneflowers which I never tire of. Rudbeckia hirta and gaillardias are nice too. Your mix may also contain a lot of plants that won't tolerate hot summers very well. I would love to have a wildflower meadow but have gotten the impression that it's one of those things that's not easy to do successfully, and I've just never tried. I did plant a long mixed shrub/perennial border along one side of our property several years ago and haven't done a very good job at keeping the weeds out. I enjoy it immensely though. I love gardening/wildlife etc. If you're doing it only to save time mowing, you definitely may be disappointed. Otherwise, there's no harm in trying. If your wildflower garden doesn't work out the way you want, you can always collect free seeds from your favorites and start over. Just my opinion but - Since you're in an area of new homes and you may be pressured to have a tidy yard, I think it would make the area look more intentional and attractive to put a section of split rail fence or picket fence across the front to separate it from the rest of your yard. That way your snooty neighbors won't think you're just being lazy about mowing. : ) I would also leave several feet of mowed area between your house and the wildflower patch to make it look neater and so you can easily walk from the front of your house to the back without having to spray yourself with Off every time to keep the ticks and chiggers away. Opinion again - I think you would appreciate having a couple mowed paths through the middle to make it easier to get from one side to the other and so you can see what's growing. Ticks don't hang out in mowed grass nearly as much as knee or waist high areas. Planting shrubs might make it more difficult to maintain. Maybe some others will give you opinions on that. I have trouble with invasive vines, undesirable trees, poke, poison ivy, etc. coming up around my shrubs close to the base where it's hard to remove them. What I think you had in mind is a prairie type area that you can just mow down once a year. Right?...See MoreAnyone Overlooked the Benefits of Clover?
Comments (48)Just found this thread, and would appreciate advice. I go for a semi-natural lawn: turf grass, but with some wildflowers encouraged. I'm a convert to white clover. It has taken years to get the stuff established in my lawn, which is in thin topsoil over a deep layer of glacial sand - very dry! It's finally spreading in some areas, and I'm hoping will fill in the barest places where grass just won't grow. (I mulch-mow, but don't water as a rule.) I've been mowing a couple of times in the spring, then waiting to cut again until about July. This lets my favorite wildflowers go to seed; then I have a mostly-grass lawn again through autumn. Clover seed is expensive. It also seems that letting it naturalize should encourage the hardiest strains for this plot. So here's the questions: how long after flowering do I have to wait for seeds I've never actually seen seed on the plants; I guess it falls/blows out as soon as it's ripe. I've read that the flowers die as soon as they've been fertilized. Is there some fixed number of days from when the flowers start to wilt until I can mow without losing all the seed? Thanks- Chelydra...See MoreClover vs Bermuda Grass - Which is more drought tolerant?
Comments (11)I agree that the fescue has to go. Fescue is not compatible with California's water shortage. When fescue is grown in the right location, it only need 1 inch per week. I also agree that giving up grass for dirt is a foolish idea. Brown dirt heats up the air eventually leading to more use of air conditioning and likely water inside the house. Another problem with California's rules, as I read them a while back, is that they do not allow you to water properly. Our toughest water restrictions in San Antonio allow us to water every other week for a total of 6 hours per day. Our most lax restrictions allow us to water every week for a total of 8 hours per day. This regimen absolutely works for most grass unless it is mowed too short on a south facing lawn in full sun. From my understanding of the California rules, you can only water for 10 minutes. That is EXACTLY wrong. Even in Phoenix the deep watering rules work. In fact I'll tell you a method that works great - soaker hoses. Turn on your faucet to the water trickles out at 1 cup per minute (roughly 800 gallons per week), run a hose to a soaker hose and let it run for days at a time. Keep the soaker hose moving and you'll have a pretty nice lawn for only 800 gallons per week. Otherwise the normal practice that works is deep and infrequent watering. Deep means a full inch all at one time, not 10 minutes per day. Infrequent means once per week with temps in the 90s, once every other week with temps in the 80s, once every 3 weeks with temps in the 70s, and once a month at temps below 70. As to a grass for your situation, if you remove every tree pictured in your pictures, then you can have bermuda. Clover is not going to be particularly happy with 1/2 day of sunlight either. There are two grasses that will be very happy in your situation. Those are St Augustine and a variety of zoysia called Shadow Turf. St Augustine is inexpensive, easy to establish, and grows with a coarse blade. Shadow Turf is expensive, easy to establish (but takes much longer than you expect), and grows with a fine blade like your fescue. Shadow Turf will not take much wear if you have pets or walk the same path every day. It will shorten as the grass blades break off and it will not return until the following spring. St Augustine will show a path but will return within the same season if the activity stops. Just out of curiosity where are you in Riverside. I grew up between Central and Arlington west of Victoria. My sister lives down towards the airport....See Morewisconsitom
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agowaterstar
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