Max Jenkinstein

Hi everyone!

I have these clients who are looking to turn most of their lawn into native/beneficial ground cover. Only issue is that there's a good 40x15' that needs to be hardy enough to handle driving over. The client has a music studio with an entrance on the side of the house and 2-3 times a month he drives on the grass to load up his car. But if we want to convert the grass and establish better ground cover, what would work? I know the establishment period will be tender, but any ideas? Maybe it's something we could install in the fall, and not much driving happens during the winter months?

I've suggested wood chips, but I want to see if there are any other options. They don't want it to look like another driveway per . Any other suggestions?

Thanks y'all stay safe

Hello, I run a small native plant nursery and have always had great success germinating tree, shrub & wildflower seeds outdoors. This year I am trying to grow many more native grasses which according to Prairie Moon and other sources, don't need stratification or other pretreatment. On December 9th I performed an initial germination experiment, by filling a 72 cell tray with compost based potting soil, and sowing the following seeds: Side Oats Gramma, Rattlesnake Grass, Big Bluestem, Virginia Wild Rye, Bottlebrush Grass, Prairie Dropseed, Culver's Root, and Shrubby St Johnswort.  The flat is indoors in my grow room and I have kept the top layer of the soil moist and the soil temperature hovers around 62-65 degrees Fahrenheit.

It has now been almost two weeks and so far only one Virginia Wild Rye seed has germinated, no other species. 1/72 cells is very poor especially considering multiple seeds were sown into each cell.

Do you have any suggestions to improve my germination rate? Is the soil temperature too cold, should I put a heat mat underneath?

Thanks.

The soil is definitely rocky. Plenty of fist sized rocks and the occasional small boulder. I gave them one application of compost tea this summer, but it was probably too little too late with the drought.

I don't think anything nipped off the leader at any point, but I'm glad you think the spreading shape is a bonus! I just hope they grow taller than the surrounding goldenrod at some point.

Hello all! I grew out a few chinese chestnuts in air pruning beds and then transplanted them into my fields in 2023. At the time of transplanting they were around 18" tall. Now after two years in the fields they are only around 3' tall, but they have put on lateral growth. I understand that taprooted trees don't love being transplanted, but I figured the air pruning bed would help with that. I've heard that chinese chestnuts can grow 1-2' a year when young, so their short stature is a little concerning. My soils are well-drained loam, with a decent amount of iron in it. The trees received a small helping of compost in the spring and then primarily rainwater. We have been experiencing a severe drought here in Southern Maine, Zone 5A, which definitely isn't helping.

Any insight would be much appreciated!

A few years late to the discussion, but I am noticing the same issue with my blue vervain. All of my blue vervain including 3rd year, 2nd year, and 1st year plants are exhibiting the same phenotypes as OP. None of these plants have ever been near herbicide. There is a lot of organic matter and fungi in the soils, but all my other wildflowers are happy. I'm inclined to think its some sort of insect pressure.