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| I'm looking for some advice on a grass alternative (not sure if this is the right forum for that?).
The runoff from my property flows directly into a clearwater stream so I don't do any wide application of chemicals. I have two persistent problems: crabgrass and ground ivy. In my planting beds, I've kept weeds under control by pulling. But the sunny "lawn" area is a disaster. 40% crabgrass, 20% clover, 25% ground ivy, 10% ajuga, 5% other weeds, 0% grass. I've given up on trying to grow actual grass. Maybe I'm an idiot or maybe it's just very difficult without chemicals (or sprinkler system), but I give up. Does anyone have an opinion about the feasibility of letting the "lawn" go to either 100% ajuga or 100% clover? Would one or the other be more effective than grass in keeping out the ground ivy and crabgrass? If yes, I'd encourage it to take over by selectively pulling the competing vegetation. This "lawn" area doesn't get much foot traffic and is in the back of the house, probably a bit less than the size of a tennis court in sq ft. I'd like to keep it as an open space as the rest of the property is woodland-ish. Thanks for any advice or suggestions!! Kathy |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Wed, Aug 22, 12 at 19:17
| Can you get ajuga seed? I don't see any reason not to mix ajuga and clover as an alternative to more traditional turf grass. I believe the ajuga flower stems will be the only part that gets up above the rest. Dutch white clover (available in seed) stops at about 5 inches high. The problem might be with the ground ivy. There are several plants that go by that name. Can you post a picture so we can see what you have there? |
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| Hi The ground ivy is creeping charlie and it was everywhere; It's sort of under control now except for the "lawn" where it's deep into the thatch throughout. It's a challenge. Is "wild clover" the type that people use for a grass alternative? I thought it was (and thought that's what I had) but after I weeded around the clover, it looked kind of fragile and weak. It's hard to imagine it could ever be a stand alone ground cover. The problem with the wild ajuga in the "lawn" is that its It's not a consistent color. Even sometimes the offspring from the same parent are a totally different color (dark purple, light purple, green, brown). Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'll post a picture here of the ground ivy. and some more photos in the following posts. Any advice is appreciated. Kathy |
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| I weeded a test patch today, taking out everything but the ajuga and clover. The clover is hard to see because it's so scraggly, but it's towards the bottom/right of the picture. |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Wed, Aug 22, 12 at 21:35
| That is definitely creeping Charlie and it is not under control. It is partially dormant from the summer heat. According to my recall of the history on this site, the only thing that will work on creeping Charlie is Roundup or other products with glyphosate. That will kill everything. How much do you want to get into on this? |
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| Ortho makes a weed b gon product but it is only grass safe as I believe it's name is weed b gon clover, chickweed or something like that and as the name implies it'll kill clover. |
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| I'm willing to try anything except chemicals. I can even smother the whole mess and start over. But I'd like to replace the crabgrass/weeds with something more attactive, that can take full sun and light traffic and that is tough enough to resist crabgrass and creeping charlie (with some weeding). I'm not confident that the CC will ever be completely eradicated here. Totally unrelated, when I was pulling up crabgrass yesterday, I found several "nests" of maggoty type worms in the soil just under the grass. I tried to figure out what they were using google, but I'm still not sure. I don't know if that's another problem to deal with or just nature?? |
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- Posted by jeffsuzuki none (My Page) on Fri, Sep 28, 12 at 12:08
| Mint. |
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