Zone 9, Mediterranean
Bermuda grass
Himalayan blackberry
Canary grass (Phalaris aquatica)
Upsides:
Bermuda and canary are great sheep forage.
Blackberry is good eating and good wildlife support as well as sheep forage.
Canary grass is good sheep forage at certain times in its growth.
Downsides:
Both Bermuda and especially Canary grass, take over to such an extent and with such deep roots, that it is taking over my pasture completely, making it a STRICT monoculture. NOTHING I’ve tried outcompetes it. It prevents EVERYTHING else from growing. I saw a 2 inch blackberry start just wilting and dying in the masses of thick stalks of Canary!! (Unheard of around here, Blackberry has no limits here)
Nothing eats Canarygrass seeds unfortunately.
Canary grass can be toxic to livestock at certain stages of its growth and after drought. So it’s not healthy year round (it never dies here) and it sucks up Vit B1 in livestock (life threatening), so there’s that to contend with if it gets too big a part of their diet.
We have to pull up swards of it every year to allow plant and wildlife diversity to happen. The mature stalks are like young bamboo, same with the extensive rhizomatous root system, so it is REALLY tough going.
Blackberry I would not mind all over the place, if it didn’t have thorns. Unfortunately thorns makes it difficult to get around the property w tires always popping and skin bleeding. We pull that up, outside of the perimeter growth, which we leave up for security purposes.
Honestly I’d rather have cactus than blackberry tho, for that purpose.
