Re: Getting rid of Pampas Grass

I have the best neighbor!  He recently took out about a dozen mature Pampas
Grass specimums (Cortaderia selloana and/or Cortaderia jubata) with a
backhoe and asked me to give him alternatives to Roundup to keep them from
coming back.  That's what he'd n.....................
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When I was first in California (1963) I planted three pampas grasses in one side of my yard. After a year or so I tumbled to their noxious nature and scrutinized the want ads for a handy man. A tall spare Norseman came out and gave me a very reasonable bid. He said he wanted to bid the job rather than charge by the hour because he was seventy and wanted to sit down when he felt he needed to. I could empathize with that and so I told him to go ahead. He had the biggest hands I've ever seen.
He took a mattock, backed into the clump and started to hack away at the roots. He kept backing into it and pretty soon it was free and he threw it into his truck and went after the other two. It was really quite amazing. He made short work of what looked to me to be a difficult job. You don't have to get all the roots. He didn't seem to dig very deep. It never came back. The seedlings around the yard were easily removed with a hoe and I haven't had one for many years.
The next problem though is to try to make sure the wind didn't contaminate your neighborhood. Good luck! ---Chas---
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It's possible to disagree without being disagreeable.
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Charles E. Dills 1371 Avalon San Luis Obispo CA 93405
[Mac G4] cdills@charter.net 805-544-1731 http://www.charlies-web.com
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