Purslane living mulch?
8 years ago
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- 8 years ago
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Purslane
Comments (6)I like golden purslane and grow it some years. My chickens like it too. It is shallow-rooted and easy to pull in most kinds of soil. If you have the sort of clay that dries rock-hard in the summertime, you might not be able to pull out excess seedlings in the dry part of the summer. You also might find it to be invasive as it does self-sow and reseed readily. As an addition to salads it adds a nice color, texture and flavor and is a great source of omega 3's. Whether or not it is asking for trouble just depends on how much it reseeds and spreads in your area. Some years I have had it reseed all over the place and other years it has reseeded, but generally only in the general area where I planted it. Some years it hasn't reseeded at all. In my garden the golden purslane never has reseeded as readily as the native, weedy purslane and also has not reseeded as readily as the related ornamental portulaca. This year I did have about 25 or 30 common purslane plants pop up in the asparagus bed and I haven't grown purslane there before. Maybe the seeds were in the soil waiting for enough moisture to make them sprout. I left them there. They are still there. Next year there probably will be a million of them. I don't care. Something is going to sprout in every available inch of soil you leave bare, and often things sprout in mulch as well. I'd rather deal with the devil I know (purslane volunteers) than the devil I don't know (miscellanous weeds planted by Mother Nature). At least when I see purslane seedlings I know what they are and I don't have to sit and stare at them and try to figure out what they are. Moss rose self-sows abundantly in my garden and I love it and I let it stay wherever and whenever possible because it is so beautiful. Golden purslane isn't quite as beautiful, but it isn't bad. Purslane makes the best living mulch under other plants that are deep-rooted. I wouldn't grow it as a living mulch under plants that also are shallow-rooted because it might outcompete them in the competition for nutrients and water....See MoreObjectively, let's consider Sedum vs. purslane
Comments (10)We all react differently to these useful plants we refer to as weeds. My backyard has no lawn,its a brick patio with flagstone walkways that wind around several flower beds.It's entirely against the grain compared to every other yard.Keeping the bricks and flagstones free of plants is a daily chore.Portulaca and Euphorbia seem to appear everywhere in the walkways and can grow quite fast,especially after a good rain. I have several kinds of sedum growing around the western and southern sides of the house adjacent to the brick patio. The sedums are much more well behaved than the Portulaca and Euphorbia.Rarely do I get a Sedum seedling growing in the bricks,and pulling them out with their miniscule root systems is easy enough. I do also get a lot of flower seeds that I do grow coming up in the bricks and flagstones too.The Portulaca and Euphorbia are more of a summer problem,along with Oxalis.In the spring it's mostly chickweed and Veronica.I have health issues and usually end up spending time in the hospital and then recovering afterwards at least twice a year.During those times I can't get out to keep up the garden and these unwanted plants bloom and set seed,so when I am well like now I have to do a lot of damage control.With a lot of new plantings still small and some perennial seeds coming up for next year I can't risk having fast having fast growing weeds overtaking them and stealing their sunlight. I realize the value these unwanted plants have and who knows if after more research they might even have more promising value for medicine and science.Portulaca as a green mulch in the vegetable garden is a great idea.My main concern with these plants is them stealing sunlight,water and nutrients from my designated plants.These so called weeds could be worse.They don't grow into and strangle perennials like the creeping Lysimachia.They don't have large underground root systems that keep sprouting shoots like Campsis radicals.If you like having the less attractive Portulaca and Euphorbia growing in your garden then I think that's fine. I just have a vision of how I want my gardens to look and these plants are unwanted paint drips on my pallets....See More“Living Mulch”?
Comments (6)Any evergreen groundcover will work as a living mulch. Thyme needs full sun and excellent drainage to thrive and is also quite low growing, so won't effectively "hide" what your doggy leaves behind :-) Here is a discussion of a few that would work well in a CT garden. But I wouldn't limit myself.........check out your local nurseries when they open for business and see what's on offer. Whether or not you will actually need to remove the mulch before planting will depend on the type and thickness of the mulch and the type of GC you choose ;-) Groundcover plants...See MoreRock VS Mulch Around Live Oak/Plant Beds
Comments (37)Just echoing what NHBabs and others have said about the rocks. We have an area that was graveled by previous owners, and another that used larger rocks, maybe 1" to 2". It is a constant source of weeds, and the leaves are impossible to remove each fall. It always looks bad unless from a distance. Attractive plants don't like it, but the weeds manage to eek out an existence, even though from a weed's point of view they don't look their best, either. We have seen a local place that uses some type of large oblong smooth rock, maybe dimensions of 4" x 3" x 1", kind of a flat egg shape, and it is beautiful. But, they have extensive funds for maintenance so it is pristine. You can remove large leaves from on top of rocks, but there's a heck of a lot of leaf particles (far more than full-size leaves) that love to get stuck and settle in the rocks/gravel....See More- 8 years ago
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