Starting a wildflower garden using micro clover instead of grass?
11 years ago
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- 11 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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Clover Living Mulch Instead of Wood Mulch for Shrubs
Comments (8)you might regret something so pervasive ... many of those.. lacey notes.. are easily pulled out.. when they get too far from where you really want them ... clover might not be so easily trainable ... escaping your bed.. crossing the lawn.. and heading 3 neighbors down ... lol also ... i have some such in my former horse pasture.. what i now call a lawn ... along with other things like plantain ... dandilion.. yarrow.. etc ... and the rabbits hit the salad bar of a lawn.. and mostly ignore my garden beds ... you need to find out if it is a rabbit crop.. and not really plant such an attractant.. or you might be calling the rabbits to your beds .... akin to planting 6 packs of beer in your beds.. and wondering why you have all these middle aged men with beer bellies.. hanging around your backyard,... lol ... ken...See MoreI cannot compost, what can I use instead?
Comments (25)Try using red or white clover in your garden I have observed that grass wasn't growing near a part of our yard where we grew melons and watermelon so this year as an experiment we our going to thow white organic cloverseeds in our vegetable garden It is supposed to also fix nitrogen in the soil just as beas when planted with corn as Squash shades and protects of what's known as The Three Sisters.Oh White clover is supposed to be a good grass suppressor prevents grass from growing just whats needed in our garden.First we did a layer of 3 layers of the white ink less news paper wet it all down with our iltered garden hose then put cardboard around the whole garden fence then wet that down too alk done o a non windy day topoed with cow manure and some chicken manure then we put 3 inches of woodchips or woodchip mulch last year in the Spring but all that should have been done in the Fall! This year we are not planting plants but Only Organic Heirloom seeds and some Organic plants howeveryou need to keep tge woodchips away from the stems and keep around the drip area only! Put Toilet paper rolks around seedlings to prevent cutworms thise white cabbage montths lay.Spray aroundfir ticks aunts red yes and fleas Use Garlic online stuff I'll get back you thx medicine...See MoreAnyone use white clover for a living vegie garden mulch?
Comments (20)TO: ubro FROM: Eric Koperek = erickoperek@gmail.com SUBJECT: Living Mulches for Orchards DATE: PM 6:15 Thursday 4 February 2016 TEXT: I recommend multiple species cover crops for both orchards and vineyards. Wide biodiversity is necessary to control insect pests. When I was a child, we sowed our apple orchards with buckwheat, turnips, and hairy vetch = winter vetch. This provided many flowers that supported beneficial predators and parasites. Translation: The good bugs ate the bad bugs. Rule: Plant small flowers to encourage beneficial insects. The good bugs have small mouth parts so planting big flowers does not work. Any plant in the Carrot Family = Dill, Fennel, Caraway, Coriander is a good choice. Lacy phacelia, mustard, tansy, feverfew, and clovers also produce abundant pollen and nectar that are easy for beneficial insects to reach. I like to include 1 / 16th part = 6.25% by weight of assorted perennial wildflowers in my cover crop mixtures. Annuals also work if they reseed freely = abundantly. Wildflowers encourage large populations of beneficial insects. As an added benefit, wildflowers also attract customers. Don't forget to include weeds in your orchard. Weeds provide food, shelter, and alternate hosts for beneficial insects. The idea is to keep a resident population of good bugs waiting for the bad bugs to arrive. Growing fruit trees in weeds can nearly eliminate many insect pests. Mow the orchard once yearly or only when trees are ready for harvest. I recommend planting fully dwarf fruit trees. Short trees are much easier to care for and harvest. Note: Do not fertilize dwarf fruit trees. Do not use any soil amendments. Just dig a hole in whatever soil you have and stick the tree in. (Make sure that the graft line is well above the soil surface). Good soil will make dwarf trees grow much taller which is a waste of money. As long as the trees grow 6 to 8 inches yearly, they are getting enough nutrients from the soil. Don't try to help them along or you will be sorry. Over-fertilized trees attract insect pests. Remember to water and mulch your trees. Apply mulch from the trunk to the drip line = the tip of the farthest branch. Use leaves, straw, hay, weeds, wood chips, hedge trimmings, grass clippings, any kind of organic matter will do. Apply mulch not less than 8 inches thick. If you don't have any mulch or if mulch is too expensive, plant mixed cover crops under the trees. Water is more important than fertilizer. As long as you have water, you can grow all the fertilizer you need. (This is why you should include a mixture of legumes in your cover crops). Note: If you space your trees widely, then you can plant row or hay crops between the trees. This will provide income while your trees are growing. We like to plant about 40 different species of trees, shrubs, and vines per acre. Broad genetic diversity greatly reduces insect pests and economic risk of crop failures. Don't plant anything you can't sell. Biodiversity does not pay unless every plant produces a cash crop. We run chickens in our orchards to control insect pests. Chickens are housed in mobile chicken coops on wheels. Move the coops 200 feet every night so chickens have fresh pasture each morning. Chickens on good pasture will get most of their food from bugs, worms, seeds, and leaves. Pasturing chickens greatly reduces feed costs: Portion only 1 to 2 Tablespoons = approximately 1/2 to 1 scale ounce of rolled grain daily per chicken. Keep moving chicken coops all year long. 30-day rotations (1 day grazing followed by 30 days rest) are best. Pastures need about 1 month to re-grow before they are grazed again. Long rotation periods are also necessary to control chicken parasites. Remember: Your best investment is an irrigation system. I would not start any commercial agricultural operation without a reliable water supply. Dwarf fruit trees are expensive. Water is cheap. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Water your trees and cover crops. I hope this information will help get you off to a good start. For more information on old-fashioned biological agriculture, visit: www.agriculturesolutions.wordpress.com -- or -- www.worldagriculturesolutions.wordpress.com -- or -- send your questions to: Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, 15108 USA -- or -- send an e-mail to: erickoperek@gmail.com end comment....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 MoreRelated Professionals
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