tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post8080465718520934611..comments2024-03-15T01:29:50.279-07:00Comments on Town Mouse and Country Mouse: Weeding sour grass, one thorough patch at a time.Town Mousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09777461911856383480noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-19430350132920294752015-01-10T09:49:58.686-08:002015-01-10T09:49:58.686-08:00Thanks for that tip, RMF. Sheet mulching doesn'...Thanks for that tip, RMF. Sheet mulching doesn't work for me as I'm restoration gardening and there are desirable plants everywhere! But I am sheet mulching the paths. <br /><br />It's very encouraging to hear that sheet mulching, properly done to exclude a pathway to the surface, will remove the problem in one season!<br /><br />BTW the garden in the top photo is not mine.Country Mousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13294472166693008328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-41079157996940213352015-01-10T09:26:36.499-08:002015-01-10T09:26:36.499-08:00The only way to really get rid of oxalis is to smo...The only way to really get rid of oxalis is to smother it. lay down sheets of cardboard -- make sure they overlap, because the stuff can grow about a foot laterally looking for a way out -- and weigh it down with clean soil or mulch. It isn't for areas where there are plants you want to save, but it will work in one season, whereas hand pulling takes several before you exhaust the bulbs. In the case of an infestation as bad as the one in the top photo, what have you got to lose?<br />RMFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-44996089890887968552015-01-08T08:53:23.972-08:002015-01-08T08:53:23.972-08:00Ya, I have yet to reach the totally get rid of it ...Ya, I have yet to reach the totally get rid of it nirvana, CVF. I feel your pain too - it came onto our property in some similar way - in a load of topsoil, or mulch, or plant pot… Not sure. But Santa Cruz sure is rife with the stuff.Country Mousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13294472166693008328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-26438901940845474872015-01-07T19:26:50.433-08:002015-01-07T19:26:50.433-08:00Oh, Country Mouse, I so feel your pain. I blogged ...Oh, Country Mouse, I so feel your pain. I blogged about this plant about four years ago because up to that point we never had it here. Then I made the mistake of bringing in some plants from the University plant sale, and boom! Some had hitch-hiked in the soil, and I've been fighting it ever since. <br /><br />My chickens don't seem to go for it, but they're pretty spoiled. I do repeatedly hand pull, in an attempt to deprive those blasted bulblets of nutrients, but once the baby goats land in spring, I get so busy, it always gets ahead of me. I just need to be more diligent, but I always wince at the first sign of yellow in spring. Good luck!Curbstone Valley Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06714297348566721344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-60479460886104875112015-01-06T08:18:35.057-08:002015-01-06T08:18:35.057-08:00I've heard this about chickens, Max - unfortun...I've heard this about chickens, Max - unfortunately not an option for us here. (Terrain too uneven to make movable pens that are coyote-proof for one thing. ) But sounds good - I'm still not sure about outcompeting idea - I see them popping up between things that seem to give shade, but maybe not complete shade?<br />Brent - I think everything that deprives the plant of resources is helpful. If I can do no more than scrape the top off to remove all leaves and stems, I believe that does make a difference if you really keep on top of it. But that won't eradicate them, not on my land. Just makes the regrowth more sparse - and if I miss a year - then they rebound. I'm glad you were able to get rid of it - maybe in lawns, the dense turf combined with the continual topping was enough to make them give up.<br />Country Mousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13294472166693008328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-63717748210048848102015-01-05T22:58:11.302-08:002015-01-05T22:58:11.302-08:00I have been fighting this Oxalis the same way, eve...I have been fighting this Oxalis the same way, every year, one bit at a time. I read somewhere that chickens go for the bulbs and tops, so when I got my two hens, I put their run over part of the Oxalis area. They really do go for the bulbs! I also let them loose over the other Oxalis areas I see. Hopefully the Salvia spathacea 'Powerline Pink' I planted in the area can outcompete the Oxalis. <br />Good luck!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606290466521471164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-35551920660217063842015-01-05T13:43:05.530-08:002015-01-05T13:43:05.530-08:00When you've reached the limit on your weeding,...When you've reached the limit on your weeding, do you find that mowing or hoeing keeps the unweeded ones from being quite so vigorous the next year?<br /><br />I ask because of memories growing up where we simply mowed the "sour grass" where is stood in our lawn and eventually it didn't come back.Brenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-8555859772444491802015-01-04T08:30:42.744-08:002015-01-04T08:30:42.744-08:00I'm still waiting for the out-competing value ...I'm still waiting for the out-competing value of planted plants, Diana; a belief which I have heard of before, and work to maintain faith in - next year for sure!Country Mousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13294472166693008328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-64712382585393788652015-01-03T14:18:20.579-08:002015-01-03T14:18:20.579-08:00you have my sympathy.
But once you have put in you...you have my sympathy.<br />But once you have put in your chosen plants, they should outcompete the Oxalis. In Porterville, where I had other plants the Oxalis wasn't a problem. Just on the open, not yet deliberately planted bits.<br /><br />Here in the new garden I'm battling foreign periwinkle, and indigenous hen and chickens which has Potatoes, as my husband calls them. Great heavy BUNCHes of potatoes! Sigh. Sent six garbage bagfuls to be composted! Diana Studerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12286066768376135880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-68196292088454270072015-01-03T11:46:49.040-08:002015-01-03T11:46:49.040-08:00I wish you well with your pulling in 2015, Terra!
...I wish you well with your pulling in 2015, Terra!<br />Country Mousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13294472166693008328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497277770771473008.post-34003749531382127502015-01-03T11:12:35.996-08:002015-01-03T11:12:35.996-08:00I hand pull oxalis too, and try to get the bulblet...I hand pull oxalis too, and try to get the bulblets out. They are persistant! Happy 2015.Terra https://www.blogger.com/profile/04396481049075747940noreply@blogger.com