Re: Lawn substitutes

sun loving ground cover would be more greatly appreciated.  Grass is a pain
in the *.
ideas?
-Peg zone 7 with red acidic clay and no patience for grass-fuss.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marge Talt" <mtalt@hort.net>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 4:16 AM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Lawn substitutes


> Well, tho' I am no authority on grass, it is a plant / crop like any
> other plant with certain requirements.  Our soil tends to be on the
> acid side and lawn grass likes neutral soil - did you add lime when
> you rototilled?
>
> While grass can and does grow on less than ideal clay soils, it does
> need pretty high nutrition to do well - did you add compost or manure
> when you tilled or bagged fertilizer?
>
> Think you said it was on a slope?  If that is the case, the seed
> could have washed down the slope in the rain if you didn't put any
> chopped hay or anything on it to hold it.
>
> Your seed could have been not of the best quality or a bit old or
> something (even if just bought)...grass seed has a short shelf life;
> hence the poor germination...birds could also have done a bit of
> feasting on it.
>
> You said rainfall was good...does that mean you didn't water the seed
> before germination?  My reading on the subject indicates that it
> needs watering every day until it germinates...if seed of any type
> has started the germination process and gets dry again, it is dead
> seed.  If the seedling grass dries out - even for a day or two - it
> will die.....
>
> Is the soil native or was it hauled in from somewhere as fill in the
> not too distant past?  If fill dirt, it could be contaminated with
> something that kills off the seedlings and inhibits germination.
>
> Well, that's quite a list of possible reasons and I am sure that
> someone who know lawn grasses could add to it;-)
>
> Do you have to have grass there?  If not, have you considered
> planting a sun loving groundcover?  You wouldn't have to mow it:-)
> You would have to weed anything until it got established, tho'.  What
> about turning it into a border or bed and just planting shrubs and
> perennials?
>
> Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
> mtalt@hort.net
> Editor:  Gardening in Shade
> -----------------------------------------------
> Current Article: Wild, Wonderful Aroids Part 3 - Amorphophallus
> http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/shade_gardening
> ------------------------------------------------
> Complete Index of Articles by Category and Date
> http://mtalt.hort.net/article-index.html
> ------------------------------------------------
> All Suite101.com garden topics :
> http://www.suite101.com/topics.cfm/635
>
> ----------
> > From: Peggy Elliott <pegster57@ntelos.net>
> >
> > germinates sparsely, never gets to the adult stage. Didnt mulch it.
> Rainfall
> > was good.
> > I planted it in March. I rototilled the soil.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index