I've seen clover lawns, would letting wild violets take over be dumb??
Aaron Rosarian Zone 5b
3 years ago
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wild violets in the garden
Comments (77)Kippy, the plant in your photo is a whole other beast, the Kenilworth ivy (Cymbalaria muralis), which is in the Scrophulariaceae, or snapdragon, family and not a violet. They don't get very out of hand here in Livermore due to the heat, adverse soil conditions, and dryness and have to content themselves with trying to appropriate watered flower pots. I remember a stone or cement wall at the train station in Irvington, New York (on the Hudson River), that was beautifully covered with this species -- it is a classic wall plant and totally adapted to growing in crevices. I was glad for this posting last year as it alerted me that the innocuous-looking little blue violet that arrived with a pot of iris was probably not so innocent after all. I removed a good-sized patch that had already sprung up, finding, as Molineaux says, that its root system is scary-huge and tenacious. Another close call....See MoreViolets and Clover?
Comments (14)Sorry to get off the subject. I let clover and violets live here and as a matter of fact am going to put the violets off to the side on their own, although we'll still have a lot in the grass. My offer of 50 narrowleaf plantain is still open to anyone who want them. E-mail me for an address. I'd send them all out with no charge at all if I could, but I have to charge postage, and I'm not a not out to rip people off like I think some ebay people are. Not that they probably even have weeds to sell though. LOL I will be able to dig some out of our yard next week when it warms up a little. I can't stand to go out there right now because it's only 32 deg. It's weird having temps in the 70s for two days and then going way down to this again. Here I thought winter was over! I was hoping for an early spring so I could start putting out plants, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I might also at some point also be able to dig out some violets to send people, but I'm not sure how big they are yet. If you'd also like 50 of them, please include another $5.00. Just so you know, I probably won't be sending these out for another week, maybe even two. I love weeds now that I found out that butterflies like them and they're staying here from now on. The violets and clover cohabitate with the grass just fine, but I want to try to get as many violets out of the grass as possibly because if any frit caterpillars are on the plants they'll end up getting mowed up. :( Cathy...See Moreclover lawns
Comments (51)My lawns are all former pastureland so they were well fertilized in their past lives by livestock. Only deer and rabbits graze and fertilize it now. Since I have at least an acre of lawn, I definitely do not fertilize or water it, ever. Nor has it ever, nor will it ever, see pesticides or herbicides. We mow it at a high setting, not close to the ground because it is healthier for the plants. Back in the day we used to re-seed any bare patches with a combination of white clover and bluegrass seed. It gets less wear and tear from animal hooves these days, so re-seeding has not been necessary in recent times. I have clover in the lawn, both white and red, many types of grasses (pasture grass and lawn grass), dandelions, mint in the wet spots, violets, and a host of other plants. I love the diversity. Every summer the clover blossoms attract a host of pollinators....See Morewild roses taking over
Comments (21)What a beautiful setting, though. It looks so inviting and peaceful. love the terraced stone walls. Have you tried smothering the plants? We have what is referred to in Massachusetts as "picker bushes", brambles or briers to the rest, and I cut them to the ground on our hillside and them covered them with cardboard, black tarps, or anything else that wouldn't let light through and weighed it down with rocks. It took a while to kill them but they didn't come back. I think that you could smother the ivy and pachysandra this way and the multiflora rose if you cut it down first. Quite a chore but unless you use some kind of chemical to kill it this is probably the only way to rid this chemical free. If the leaves are deprived of sunlight the plant can't perform photosynthesis and the plant will eventually die. You can kill any unwanted lawn using the same technique. It just takes a while. Another option to kill lawn under new flower beds is tio cover it with a thick layer of newspapers then put your soil and mulch right on top, cutting through the newspaper for your planting holes. Or plant first and then fit damp newspaper around the plants like a jigsaw puzzle, tearing where necessary and then covering with a top layer of soil and mulch. This also helps to keep the weeds under control. Straight bleach works extremely well as a weed killer but I don't know of the toxicity or lasting effects on the environment and couldn't find any info via google search. It usually requires only one application though. It kills poison ivy, "picker bushes", wild plantain, burdock and other plants effectively. If you spray it at high sun on dry foliage it works best. Sharon...See MoreAaron Rosarian Zone 5b
3 years agoGargamel
3 years agoraee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
3 years ago
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