The tree may have won, some alternative ideas.
First, I don't know what kind of oak besides that it's big, deciduous, has no lobes on its' leaves, acorns are almost perfectly round and don't think I've seen one with its' hat on. Like walking on marbles and yes, so many fall that it's somewhat dangerous to walk around for a few weeks. Too small to rake or be crunched by mower. I love this tree, it's doing what it does which is primarily, make precious shade on the house.
I've gardened under many-a-tree before, including silver maple, cottonwood, hibiscus syriacus, ash, and have never given an area I worked hard to reclaim back to grass. Never considered it, pulling sprouts is just part of the game. But the oak tree that grandly commands the yard and extends over the one bed I have in the sun (just southwest of this tree,) drops so many acorns that all sprout... but not all at once. I can go out there and pull 100 every day and there will be 100 more tomorrow. Even if I'm doing this in the sweltering sun, mosquitoes will eat me at the rate of 2-4 bites per minute. This is a small spot along a fence, triangle shape, so a PITA to maintain the edges, as well as these sprouts. I never mind maintaining an edge, but combined with the sprouts, this bed is far too demanding for the rewards, at least the way I have it.
Love looking at it out the window, it's the view from the kitchen sink, but any closer, and it's just "look at today's sprouts" all under and around the plants. Can't enjoy them at all, just dreading the pulling of the sprouts. All of this work and miserable bites to keep clear a patch only big enough for a few shrubs. I can't let them go for months until the mosquitoes go away, won't be able to pull them then. This has been more work than the whole rest of the yard combined, this little bed.
But I've had enough.
I could move all of the smaller plants leaving only shrubs. If I pull just the spouts close to trunks/stems, the more open spots could be beheaded into submission. Mowing controls the sprouts in the lawn, but I wonder how infrequently one can weed-wack oak sprouts to cause their demise. Any thoughts on that?
Another option would be to only have stuff that gets mowed more often. Can't think of anything that would be 'wow' out the window that fits that description. Thoughts?
Another option would be to put 2 or 3 sheets over the spot while the acorns are raining. What would shrubs think of being under a white sheet for about 3 weeks while still leafed out? They're nothing special, but do keep the view stocked with butterflies and hummingbirds - Lantana, Buddleia, KO rose, Passiflora, Mirabilis jalapa, Dahlia, and some Hydrangea, Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus,) Talinum paniculatum toward the more shady end. How much light does a white sheet block? They say a white T-shirt isn't enough to prevent sunburn if at the beach all day, maybe it wouldn't bother them much at all. Nothing there would mind being made shorter for this, and all of these are easily replaceable by propagating other plants (more of something that didn't mind) around the yard, should an *occasional* plant find this too insulting. Thoughts?
Does anybody pick up the acorns? That seems easier than pulling sprouts, the weather's certainly more amenable to outdoor labor. Occurred to me this summer, but I can't remember if the leaves fall at the same time. If so, probably not so easy. But I think the acorns fell weeks in advance of the leaves. Thoughts?
Please don't suggest any chemical approaches, I'm aware, not interested.
Thanks for reading! (Ignore the Canna to the right, it was just there temporarily until a friend had a spot for it.)
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Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, ALOriginal Author