I don't own the plants, they own me.
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Weeds are just plants with enough surplus will to live to withstand normal levels of gardening!--Alexandra Petri
Matt Todd said, "I surveyed up and down this weekend and only identified ONE coneflower and a couple more things from the seed blend list.
Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil
Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Anne Miller wrote:Hi Matt, I was wondering how the 18 Purple Poppy Mallow planting turned out?
I don't own the plants, they own me.
Oliver Smith wrote: 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.
I don't own the plants, they own me.
Matt Todd wrote:
Oliver Smith wrote: 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.
Same experience here! We did a couple small patches of seed blend. The blends were not native specific (just some natives in there amongst a ton of non-native annuals.)
The first 2 years we only saw the annuals, but this year it's mostly just the natives left. It makes me think a hybrid approach might be more practical for native seeding projects: throw a bunch of annuals in which might re-seed themselves for a couple years, but will peter out as the natives grow stronger. It seems the eager annuals beat out the weed competition in the first two years, so less fighting tough weeds while waiting for the natives.
I'm wondering if you haven't gotten to the root of the problem here! You're not dealing with damaged soil, you're maybe dealing with subsoil and that might actually benefit from some sort of soil building chop and drop routine before getting your Native plants established. There may be little natural biology in the soil. Is the slope to great for sheet mulching with an emphasis on jump-starting the soil biology (worms will do that, and some sorts of mushrooms would help also, but they both need something to feed on.)Matt Todd wrote:I believe this is "loess" soil. Dry, silty, and low nutrition which might be a large part of the problem. So it makes sense that the Poppy Mallow on top are doing ok, because they're closer to actual top soil, rather than this loess deposit that was exposed when they built the road.
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Jay Angler wrote:I'm wondering if you haven't gotten to the root of the problem here! You're not dealing with damaged soil, you're maybe dealing with subsoil and that might actually benefit from some sort of soil building chop and drop routine before getting your Native plants established. There may be little natural biology in the soil. Is the slope to great for sheet mulching with an emphasis on jump-starting the soil biology (worms will do that, and some sorts of mushrooms would help also, but they both need something to feed on.)
I don't own the plants, they own me.
Janette Raven wrote:The most important question on this thread never got an answer..... How did you kill off the existing vegetation? Because that may have a huge bearing on your outcomes. All the best from late spring new Zealand.
Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner
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