Oliver Smith

Hello Matt,

I have had an experience almost like this.  I had a new area that I seeded heavily over winter and early spring.   I imaged how lush the area would look....and then pretty much nothing!  The area was mostly bare except for some common lawn weeds popping up here and there.

Thinking it a total failure, in mid-June I planted heavily a 'wildflower mix' that I bought at the local store.  Not ideal but I just wanted to get something growing over that bare soil.  I had to water heavily but managed to get that mix to sprout and many things to bloom by fall.  The next year the wildflower mix continued as mostly perennials from the wildflower mix.  Each year that wildflower mix evolved until low and behold after 3-4 years it was almost all the natives that were in that mix.  Black eyed Susan and basket-flower, a lupine appeared, and butterfly weed.

And then a funny thing happened.  All of a sudden I started to see the natives I had originally planted.   I guess they decided they didn't want to sprout until they had better conditions.  I had originally seeded some sedge, grass, golden Alexanders, cardinal flower, blue Lobelia, and others.   And since, many of the originally seeded  natives have steadily gained strength.

Hello,
,
I am just looking for general ideas about plants that appear unhealthy, be they veggies, nearby landscaping plants, cover crops, or potential chop and drop material.

For example, a patch of wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is near a potential new veggie bed location and has powdery mildew or something similar.  Is this a potential risk to spread to the veggies?   Mondarda is subject to this type of thing and the plants otherwise are growing well.   What should I do about this?   Ignore?  Try to treat the monarda or soil?  Alternately I could move/remove the Mondarda I suppose.   I could limit that bed to certain non-susceptible veggies.

Related, for chop and drop, how picky should I be regarding outward appearance and health of the weeds being dropped?  For instance, consider discolored clover leaves (likely due to heat stress and competition), or late season dandelion that is quite battered.

I have read suggestions that veggie plants showing unhealthy signs should be disposed of in the garbage, but that seems a bit extreme to me.  Any thoughts on how to think about plants showing blight, disease, decay, or stress near veggies are appreciated!

Thanks for any ideas or musings, as I don't have much experience with food crops.

Removing English ivy where invasive is a recommended endeavor IMO.  The berries of mature (climbing) vines are eaten by birds in the fall and spread to neighboring areas via droppings.  Robust Ivy is a tree strangler, winding tightly around the base roots as well as covering the trunk and branches.  

Interesting article about ivy removal and replacement plants:
https://waynecountynysoilandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/English-Ivy-fact-sheet.pdf

This is a great topic.  As already mentioned, it is amazing how clover, dandelion, and plantain are sort of a natural vegetation for lawn-like areas.  I encourage them and get them for free.  

A plant community could also include grasses.   I have had good results from low-height fescues, which are deep rooted, tolerate moderate shade and tree roots, keep an armor coating on the ground year round (even when dormant), and are vigorous but not aggressive, so as to fill in nicely between the other plants.   These are cool season grasses and become active fairly early in the spring when rains are heavy to aid in water management.  

In general grasses grow well with clovers and take advantage of the nitrogen, and fescues don't require any additional inputs due to the deep root system.

Ideally the plant community would have both warm and cool season varieties of broadleaf and grass.   For warm a season grass, I been considering adding buffalo grass to the mix.

I believe the groundcover may be thimbleweed or related.  I enjoy the patch I have growing in my backyard.  it is a somewhat aggressive but low height plant.  

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemone_canadensis
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ANCA8



Ther are several Anemone species that look similar.

Does anyone know of houseplants that can easily be grown from seed?    When I search online for seed sources I get a few hits but mostly shipments for actual plants.

Or alternately, which possibly unconventional plants from seed would make good houseplants: relatively small growth and maximum size, roots happy within a pot, and fairly low light conditions?

Thanks for any information!

You could consider a clover or clover/grass mixture.  White clover is my preference due to low growth habit.   Should do well in full sun.

https://www.almanac.com/content/clover-comeback

If you are willing to keep existing grass, clover can be seeded in place.  Clover and grass complement each other well, since the clover fixes nitrogen and grass uses it.  The turf stays in place during winter so the ground is covered until clover emerges each spring.

Some other types of clover for lawns are alsike and strawberry.  I noticed that even Scott's now has a 'clover-lawn' seed with strawberry.  Both are taller growing.  

Pennsylvania sedge could form the basis of a nice planting.  Also known as oak sedge, it naturally grows in oak woodlands and savannas.  Can look like lawn but does not need mowing.  Can handle shade or sun.  Also could combine with other plants for a nice garden.

Sedges have fibrous root systems that soak up water like a sponge after well established.

Euonymus fortunei - winter creeper vine.
It spreads everywhere, climbs walls and trees with damaging roots, and smothers garden beds.
Repeated pulling will take it out but is disruptive to the soil.

Seeps / shallow springs are enabled by the vegetation as well.  A deep and healthy fibrous root layer (anchored by sedges for example) holds rainfall in the soill, it will slowly percolate.  

You may be interested in a book called "Timberhill: Chronicle of A Restoration" that discusses 'pioneer' springs from a bygone era returning after trees were thinned and high quality understory restored.  The property described is hilly land in southern Iowa.

Might not exactly line up with your goals or situation, but passing along in case helpful, in light of the densely wooded hillside in the photo.