From Oklahoma

[JamieB]

Hey folks. I hope this forum is just as friendly as the garden pond one. That’s how I found it. Seeing as I’m waiting on weather to decide which season we are in, I’m focused more on the garden right now than the pond.
A little info on me; I have a black thumb. I’m horrible at growing anything that requires me to do more than plant it, and water it randomly. Buying a place out in the country, 10 acres, already has lots ( and lots, and lots!) of flower bulbs, but the Johnson grass has become an issue, so I’m having to dig them up, put them in pots, so I can till the ground, cover it with plastic, and let summer heat kill it off for me.

 

[JamieB]

I figure by coming here to talk plants, I’ll stop filling the pond forum with all my plant talk! They are great over there, but maybe folks here will be just as good. And when I hit a planting snag, I’ll already have stuff set up and maybe a few friends who can assist!
Pics are my current project. The circle in our drive is full of bulbs I need to get dug up. I don’t think 30 odd planterswill be enough! My current plan for it is to get all the bulbs up, put in pots, spend the year killing off the weeds, then lay it out nicely, with a path to the gazebo, taller plants forming a ring around it, shorter flowers inside the ring, replacing the grass with like mint and thyme. I’d love to fill it with color and flowers spring to autumn, plants that our wild birds and bees can live on, and give me color and joy! I prefer native plants, herbs, and bulbs, but I’ll be adding pansies, johnny jump ups, and a few other favorites.

 

[alp]

Ah, thank you for the photos. Don't you leave the bulbs in the ground so that they can naturalise or is it too cold?

 

[JamieB]

I’m digging them up because I want to save them. The plan is I put them in pots for a year, till the dirt, water it and cover the ground with plastic so it will kill the weeds with out chemicals. Then this autumn, I’ll replant them how I want them.

 

[Chuck]

Johnson grass is easy to eradicate. All you have to do is cut it down when the seed heads are still green. It will not come back from the roots. Oh, and welcome to the forum

 

[JamieB]

That’s a rough sketch of how I want it. Add in assorted flower seeds in the appropriate spots for height.

 

[JamieB]

We can cut it in our yard, but the wind will just blow more in. We couldn’t keep up with it last year. 10 acres, our riding mower died. Down to a push mower. They come back from roots too, which is why I need to till, then bake them.

 

[Chuck]

We can cut it in our yard, but the wind will just blow more in. We couldn’t keep up with it last year. 10 acres, our riding mower died. Down to a push mower. They come back from roots too, which is why I need to till, then bake them.

Seeds are viable for years in soil and will come back later if conditions are right. They do not come back from roots but do come back from rhizomes. Some plants have rhizomes some don't. Tilling is the absolute worst thing you can do. It will break up the rhizomes and you will have many times as many johnson grass plants as before. Solarizing will work but it will take all summer. In reality all you have to do is not let it go to seed and it will disappear in a year or two. I live where there is a lot of johnson grass and mowing is the only good means of getting rid of it besides spraying with glysophate (Roundup).

Solarizing will effectively kill it IF you do it right. You must cut the grass as low as possible and then soak the ground before putting the plastic on. I prefer clear plastic. If you till first you will bury some of the rhizomes deeper and solarizing probably won't work. You will be having the grass pop up for years. The rhizomes grow horizontally about 3 inches deep.

Seeds can and will blow in but not many. What is coming back are last years and the year before's seeds. This is not something that is quickly done. Even if you spray, old seeds will still come up although fewer and fewer of them.

 

[JamieB]

This place sat empty for years before Dad n step mom bought it, then they only had a year to really work on the yard before her back messed up to the point they couldn’t get it all done. We moved in two years ago to help, and last year, the riding mower died a smoky engine death. So basically say 10 years of little maintenance. I need to till to get the rhyzomes and saplings closer to the surface. We have some kind of crap tree that sends out saplings by the hundreds. The only way to get them up is to dig them up, they stink like skunk. I do plan to leave the plastic in place till the end of autumn, when I’ll transplant the bulbs before or about first frost.

 

[JamieB]

So I see three main kinds of bulbs growing that I’ve got up so far. No clue what’s what other than the singular type kinda looks like tulip leaves. Then there is the round clusters, which may be grape hyacinth? Then the long side by side type clusters. If anyone knows their bulb sprouts, feel free to give me an idea of what’s what. I also dog up a small cluster of big bulbs, those are a handful! That’s the first pic. Second is some of the tulip types in the ground, third is tulip type dug up, fourth is the round cluster in a pot, fifth is tulip type planted, and last is the side by side clusters. The only things I’ve seen bloom are a few tulips, and grape hyacinth. And I may not even have the grape hyacinth name right.

 

[Chuck]

This place sat empty for years before Dad n step mom bought it, then they only had a year to really work on the yard before her back messed up to the point they couldn’t get it all done. We moved in two years ago to help, and last year, the riding mower died a smoky engine death. So basically say 10 years of little maintenance. I need to till to get the rhyzomes and saplings closer to the surface. We have some kind of crap tree that sends out saplings by the hundreds. The only way to get them up is to dig them up, they stink like skunk. I do plan to leave the plastic in place till the end of autumn, when I’ll transplant the bulbs before or about first frost.

All I am trying to say is that tilling is a BIG mistake. Chainsaw the trees down to ground level and apply Greenlight Stump and Vine Killer to the stumps or spray them with triclopyr. Mow everything down low as possible. Soak and put on the plastic. Then in the fall do your tilling. You will probably still have a few come up but spot spraying will take care of that.

 

[JamieB]

If we could cut the trees throwing the saplings out, we would. Eventually we will, but can’t yet. Need to get other shade trees first, and a crew to do that so they don’t fall on the house. I heard drilling a hole in the stump and putting salt in it works to kill the roots, but most of this years are still too thin to do that. I’ll be solarizing them all ( never know what it was called, thank you) then once I have this patch ready, I’ll be starting on the tangle to the east that’s choke full of them. I try to avoid chemicals, I use compost and fish mulm from the pool/ pond to fertilize. We have a hive of wild bees in a hollow tree just across the driveway, so the only thing we’ve used is a spray for the apple tree cause it had a fungus. I’m very into all natural stuff, for myself, and my household. If the chemicals free way I try doesn’t work, I’ll try the stump killer, but I’d rather avoid it.

 

[Chuck]

If we could cut the trees throwing the saplings out, we would. Eventually we will, but can’t yet. Need to get other shade trees first, and a crew to do that so they don’t fall on the house. I heard drilling a hole in the stump and putting salt in it works to kill the roots, but most of this years are still too thin to do that. I’ll be solarizing them all ( never know what it was called, thank you) then once I have this patch ready, I’ll be starting on the tangle to the east that’s choke full of them. I try to avoid chemicals, I use compost and fish mulm from the pool/ pond to fertilize. We have a hive of wild bees in a hollow tree just across the driveway, so the only thing we’ve used is a spray for the apple tree cause it had a fungus. I’m very into all natural stuff, for myself, and my household. If the chemicals free way I try doesn’t work, I’ll try the stump killer, but I’d rather avoid it.

I am totally organic too. The only reason to ever use chemicals is when nothing else will work and NEVER in my vegetable garden. When using the stump killer or trycloper only a few drops are used. It doesn't go into the soil nor does it affect bees. I have tried using salt like you mentioned. Didn't work. I drilled a few 3/4" holes into the root flare and filled the holes with trycloper. The trees (live oak and juniper) were dead in 6 months. On cut saplings just a few drops are used. In either case the stuff never touched the soil.

 

[JamieB]

Where would I find it then? Tractor supply? Lowes? As many of those saplings as we get each year, I bet I can go through a bottle! If I knew just which tree was throwing them, I’d be nipping the buds and doing my best to reduce the numbers. This is a google earth of our property and rough draft of plans. I need to change a few things, as alkaline as our water is, I don’t know blueberries would do well. Haven’t tested the soil, but I think it will be alkaline too. Ph for water from the well is around 8, GH is around 150, KH is around 300. That’s well water, shallow (30’) well. Not sure just how much that impacts soil, but pretty sure alkaline water won’t be in acidic soil! We need to add more trees to the north as a wind break, and I want tons of berry bushes/ canes.

 

[JamieB]

I’m also going to try a bed of aquaponic garden this year. Pump from my pool pond, I saw a neat idea using iv tubing to control the flow. So if I spike my hose, then control the drip rate, I can keep a steady light flow of water. ( medic in the National Guard, I managed to snag some expired tubing that was destined for trash) if I do it right, it’ll be great, and I’ll set up more beds. I figure tomato, cucumber, melons, basil, maybe a few other things, I’ve got the frame which is about 3’x4’. I’ll be making the planter box, I’ve got pond liner, a small pump, next I’ll have to find a good media, and start my seeds. If I set up posts, I can use them to make a trellis for the cucumber, squash, maybe if I do the small melons, they’ll grow on it too.