Garden Projects #4

I grew a white one from seed many years ago and it is still popping up everywhere, called Green Apples. Maybe even a tad too much. DH found one in the woods a couple of days ago and got all excited until I pointed out that we had big clumps of it in several places in the garden. I have some pinks starting to bloom now too as well as a mess of blues and purples. I think they cross and make up new ones. Magpie is doing fine this year, and it never seems to wander. I have to pull many of the other ones as they are almost weedy which is on my project list after planting veggies today. Patti

That's a lovely collection of columbine.....mine are short-lived....even canadensis petered out after a few years. Louise, I know you are concerned about the girls as they have both been poisoned already......I have to agree that digging LOV is best, but vinegar, if it works, is harmless to the dogs, & once the rain dilutes it, should be fine for grass......I know Patti's list mentions daffs....well, the airedale twins we had dug up & ate every daff in the south garden, then ate all the wisteria.....no symptons whatever, & they were little at the time.....5 or 6 months old....

lousie you could nuke it with brush be gone and think about grass next year - i will be taking the bbg to some poison ivy that is coming through the rock wall as soon as my mulch is moved - i think that will be done next weekend

Thanks for your thoughts on the lily of the valley issue, everyone. Digging it out is not an option because the area is about 60 feet by 20 feet....just too big and too backbreaking in that area. The list of poisonous plants is a good one, but we have learned that plants are categorized by the level and type of toxicity within that list and others. Only some are fatal in small amounts, and lily of the valley heads the list since it has cardiac glycocides - as does digitalis - and it only requires a tiny amount to cause cardiac arrest or renal failure, especially in dogs the size of ours. The most common issue with death in pets is the one we have - it is mixed in with sweet grass that is very tempting for dogs to eat. They accidentally chomp on a leaf or stem and that is enough to kill them very quickly. We have the patch fenced off for that reason, but would like to get rid of it completely. A couple of the university extension services say that you can kill it with Roundup, but it will likely take several efforts. There must be thousands of those plants in our back yard and meadow since they have been multiplying since the early 70s. We applied Roundup and it didn't do much, so Hank mowed the whole patch almost to the ground, only to learn that the stems and rhizomes are the most lethal, and now there are no leaves to transmit the Roundup. Ugh. I think we'll have to keep trying the Roundup or the Vinegar - especially since Marilyn says that the vinegar will not prevent seeding it with grass later. I appreciate your thoughts!!
At the RU, if anyone wants to dig 12,000 plants......go for it!!!! LOL

I sympathize, Louise. I have chameleon and gooseneck loosestrife.

oh I didn't realize it was that large of an area.. unless you have a bucket loader.. no way you are digging that out.. sorry... if I knew I would have saved my cardboard for you.. we get enough shipments to cover that size area.. LOL

oh crud you dont even want to know what I am up against. 3 years no weeding and the Lupines are taking over all the goo stuff.

oh oh oh crud

Lupines are nice.

If you want them to own ya

So they're like wives??

Wow, Louise, didn't realize the patch was so large or the plant so toxic! Glad I don't have any in the back yard where the dogs are....

Sounds that way, Victor!

Only if ya like to spread hard.

I have not had a lupine reseed at all here

mine do - invasive they are not - all you need to do is bend over and pick them out - have ton's of lupine and foxglove seedlings coming up in the bed from last year they will need thinning. i also have the lupine from the ru here - yellow from louise that i just potted and some from celeste they will be potted next weekend

This message was edited Jun 6, 2011 6:51 PM

My fogloves reseed....lupines never make it through the first year.....

difficult for us to grow lupine. I suppose not enough sun.

neither one has reseeded for me :(

Lupine is invasive if you dont deadhead them!

This flower bed I planted 3. Did not weed or do nothing last year. How would you like to straighten out this mess?

I dont like pink flowers. I did not plant this over by the bank. So lupine is taking over in my yard.

I remember when that garden w/statue was new and bare.

I "think" 3 years ago.

yep

.New Thread
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1188013/

This message was edited Jun 7, 2011 6:05 AM

This message was edited Jun 7, 2011 6:06 AM

No lupines from me, Bill...I have trouble getting them to grow and don't have any yellow. I only have two and wish I could get more to hang in there. I took one from Celeste - I think - at your RU and it is going to be fun to see what color it is. It might turn out to be yellow and that would be cool. It's in my "reformed" garden. Lol

Allison, your cardboard idea is a thought. We might try covering the area with tarps. Thanks!

Louise, do you, by any chance, have access to any flexible, rubber pond liner? A couple hot sunny days smothering your LOV under the heavy black liner would kill just about anything!

that sounds good!

Like that idea too. Patti

*Idea* go to a swimming pool place and ask if you could get a liner when they tear down a pool. 99% of the time if a pool is sold they reccomend a new liner to go in as its nearly impossible to line up the holes for the input and output. I am sure they would give it away!

Or build a pond where the LOV are currently growing. SOJ can be your mentor as she was to me when we built our endless stream. A puppy pool. Patti

That sounds like a great idea......the girls would love a pool!

Now, THAT's a good idea! Puppy Pond!

Sherrie, good thought on the pool liner, if it's heavy enough. I think the heavy rubber black pond liner would probably be more effective, but most people don't have it just lying around!