Posted on 05/17/2011 3:09:57 AM PDT by freejohn
http://hcs.osu.edu/hcs/tmi/plantlist/vi_minor.html
We here in liberal S. FL and everyone seems to want to plant non native water sucking and gas powered trimmer needing plants. We have had a *drought* every year we’ve lived here and our lawn looks like hell (we get our water for the yard from the canal, so when it’s low there’s not enough water pressure to really water it). I never understand why people don’t just plant things that do well in the native climate AND things that don’t require manicuring. Of course, I hate yardwork. I guess all those hedges are important to keep people employed.
“I am aware of vinca as an annual flower for shaded areas that has to be repurchased and planted each year.”
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No, vinca is a perennial, unless you have such extreme low
temps to kill it.
You can look up the vincas, (major and minor) on Wikipedia.
They are among the favorites as a ground cover in light to heavy shade..
I grew some of it to wholesale to the nursery trade in Memphis.
It may not be optimum, but it grows. Then it seems to head straight for some garden area like my irises. At some point I am going to have to dig out the irises, pick out every bit of grass root, change over the dirt and put the irises back. Not sure where the grass came from, it was there when I moved in.
You, sir, “get it”.
I’ll have a Dark and Stormy, please.
“Alex, wrong vinca. You need to look at vinca minor.”
Yes, I addressed that.
Vinca is not to be used as turf, or walked on.
Both minor and major are to be used only as ground covers.
Trying to grow grass under an oak tree is nearly impossible. Your soil will test to be highly acidic, probably in the 4.0-5.5 pH range. Vinegar runs about 4.0. Add the shade and heavy clay soil and you might just forget about it.
You will notice that the oak leaves do not decompose as they are contain high levels of tanic acid. Tanic acid is used in the tanning process to preserve leather. Clay soil is loaded with nutrients, but due to the the high acid content it does not allow them to become available to ground plants, grasses included.
If you are bound and determined to grow grass under the oak trees you might try applying 10 lbs. of pelletized gypsum (calcium sufate) per 100 sq. ft. to the surface along with decomposed organic humus (do not use peat moss as it is also very acidic), roto-till about 6” deep and find a shade loving type grass seed. The gypsum will break up the clay soil and allow it to breathe and allow the humus to mix with the highly nutritious clay soil and bring you pH up to acceptable levels.
The best and most available organic material is probably decomposed cow manure. Avoid horse or chicken manure because it is too rich in nitrogen and will most likely ‘burn’ your grass. It’ll grow like hell at first, but then turn brown and die off.
Have you thought about growing a ground cover like vinca minor (periwinkle) or sweet woodruff? There are many ground cover type plants that would do much better than grass and you don’t have to mow it! Remember that nature is as persitent as a spring and it will strive to return the area back to it’s original form.
If it were me, I’d let it just remain a forest setting and go fishing instead.
Just my opinion.
Bermuda is great here. Of course I like any grass that I can graze the horses on when their pasture gets low.
Ditto that. I’ve had Bermuda actually push its way into the house between the wall and the foundation, and grow into the carpet. You actually have to go out around the exterior walls and pull the Bermuda runners out of the house.
When Bermuda grows like that, it is impossible to eradicate. Having a garden is very difficult; if you don’t keep pulling out the Bermuda, it will quickly crowd out the vegetables.
Where I live now, the Bermuda actually isn’t very hardy. Other grasses are alive; the Bermuda looks mostly dead. Because of drought conditions, we can only water once a week.
Trying to advise someone on FR about turf or plants is an exercise in futility, as soil, weather, and growing conditions in the USA vary to such a great extent.
One person’s dream plant can often be another person’s weed.
The very best option is to consult nurserymen in YOUR area.
New hybrids come into the market every year.
I have been out of the business since 1980.
calcium sufate = calcium sulfate
Bermuda grass sucks! I can’t grow flowers in most of the sunny areas of my yard because the bermuda takes over, and not just the runners. That stuff has roots that act like underground runners so if you pull it up from the top, it will soon come back anyway. However, it doesn’t like shade, so it doesn’t grow under my big oak tree, whereas St. Augustine does much better there. Cutting it longer than Bermuda grass lets it grow better and lessens the need to water it so much.
That all sounds like good advise. My problem is being on a hill. Erosion has taken dirt from under the trees and we have roots above ground under the canopy. I would like to bring in dirt to cover the roots and plant something to hold the dirt in place, either a grass or ground cover. I am at a total loss because we moved here from a yard of full sun and all grass with only one mature pine tree on the property. It was alot of mowing, but no headaches.
I also am a supporter of native plants. Anything that is not native to a region will take over and obscure the vegetation that was designed for the area. I guess the problem arose with the suburban gardener. Imitating the wealthy industrialist of the turn of the twentieth century who went to extremes to gather exotic plants to decorate their lawns, the new landed gentry sought the same gardening path although on a far more smaller scale. Hence the intrusion of foreign plants and the loss of those that really thrive.
I see we agree that vinca minor might be his only answer.
Our vinca is blooming right now in upstate NY. It does very well under extreme cold conditions and is quite prolific.
We own a registered nursery that specializes in native woodland plants, mostly ginseng (panax quinquefolium) and Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis). I also do site consultations for landowners that want to grow these plants for profit.
Do you miss the business?
If you think Bermuda is bad, you should try fighting privet. You can throw gallons of Gly-4 on it, burn it, dig it up, mow it down, plow it under and it still comes back (usually with a vengeance).....
As someone with a heavily shaded yard and clay soil, with the additional problem of pets and a husband that dislikes yard work, I have also sought a solution to the problem of what to grow. I have covered some portions of the yard with plants and ground covers. In response to the person who commented about the oak tree and acidic soil, there are several acid-loving plants; azaleas and others and some fruits like blueberries (which do well in my shady lawn provided they get enough water when fruiting and a bit of sun). You can use ground covers like Variegated Pennywort and Golden Creeping Jenny-Moneywort. Liriope does well in shade but can become invasive. Or get dwarf Japanese mondo grass, always green, never needs mowing, does well in poor soil. Bugleweed is very nice too.
As to the comments about vinca..I have two varieties of periwinkle ground covers and they are very tough. They put up with foot traffic and also dog traffic and dog toilet. They have trailing vines but will actually establish new roots and independent plants. So you can mow over parts of it and it pops back up. It’s about the only thing that does well in the back of my yard.
“We own a registered nursery that specializes in native woodland plants”
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That is very nice. I always loved the native woodland and mountain plants. The best in Tennessee are in the mountain
areas.
Yes, Vinca is a convenient ground cover, and adaptable in most areas.
I do miss horticulture to some extent, but I was always a jack of all trades, and a master at none.
My number one business was radio electronics, but since I owned a farm, I did dabble in horticulture.
I am now retired and living in the Philippines.
One last note on the best plants for the USA, one man’s dream plant can be another’s nightmare...just think KUDZU, hahaha.
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