Two questions on lawn and garden care...

[generator12]

Hi guys!

I'm in need of an aggressive ground cover to place on the sides of a drainage ditch running in front of my place. I need something that will grow/spread quickly and will be high/thick enough to discourage grass and weeds. The grade slope is just too steep and the ditch too deep for me to effectively cut it with a mower, and the area is too large for me to continue to do it with a string trimmer. Suggestions?

Also, has anyone had success with any type of grass killer that can be used on grass growing in a plant bed, without killing the plants? I tried an Ortho product that was labeled as such, but it definitely took out some of my phlox along with the grass.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

This may help with killing only the grass. Grass Killer for Vegetable Gardens | eHow

For your ditch try to plant some Kudzu. That stuff grows wild and will cover anything quickly. Not sure if it will grow well in your area.

Kudzu in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[gm280]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

This may help with killing only the grass. Grass Killer for Vegetable Gardens | eHow

For your ditch try to plant some Kudzu. That stuff grows wild and will cover anything quickly. Not sure if it will grow well in your area.

Kudzu in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OMG Kudzu...? Really...? That stuff once planted will never be removed again. It is so invasive that they can't stop it from coming back regardless what you try to do. I've seen farmers try to eradicate and to this day it keeps coming back again and again... Be extremely careful with that plant and decision... :facepalm:

 

[stackz]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

a couple bags of cheap contractor grass might be able to do what you want. though it'll either survive or die off in a couple weeks. its about the fastest germinating grass seed I can think of. just make sure you cover it with hay to help keep the area moist and birds away.

the other thing would be to do like my dad does. he's got a 10' deep ditch at the front of his property. the slope is about 65* kinda like a sharp cliff lol.

he just burned the ditch out and then before stuff could grow back he took a cheap craigslist push mower and removed the armatures. he fashioned a little pull handle for the run/stop bar on the frame and welded two eyerings to the back frame. hooked two cords to the eyelets to his riding lawnmower and has my mom drive it back/forth while he pulls it to the side with another cord hooked to one of the eyelets.

as far as grass killer in a plant bed, nope. pretty much all grass killers kill everything. Time to just get down in there and start manually pulling up the grass by the roots. it was a pain when I started but now that I'm caught up on it. takes me a couple minutes a day of just pulling up the few new shoots. keeps the plant bed soil nicely aerated too.
he's been doing this about 7 years now as well as tossing weed/feed down after the mowings and its got some nice random mix of st. augustine and bermuda growing now.

 

[JB]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

The only stuff I know that will do the trick doesn't grow well in the north; Bermuda and St Augustine. Kudzu probably doesn't either, but it is a serious threat if it does. It is like a plague wherever it gets started. . .not even fire will kill it off.

 

[dwco5051]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

My answer to drainage ditches to hard to mow is ditch lilies. If you are in a rural area no problem. If you have neighbors close by that are somewhat uptight they may think of you as a "country bumpkin." People either love them or hate them, there doesn't seem to be any in between.

 

[generator12]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

Thanks guys. I'm going to look into each of the suggestions. They're the best I've had, no matter where I've asked.

 

[ehenry]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

If you can get your hands on some you can spray the ditch bank with MSMA. It will kill off most anything but the burmuda grass. Also, if you can find some 2-4-D (which I doubt) its good to spray ditch banks with it will only kill broad leaf weeds. Neither of these chemicals will kill woody type plants. You dont want to use anything like roundup cause it will kill off the grasses you want to keep and the ditch banks will start to erode.

Ya might want to try something like Asian Jasmin or English Ivy. Kudzu would be an extremely bad idea. Believe me, I live in the land of kudzu and if you think the ditch bank is a ***** to fool with now.....plant some kudzu on it. You'll learn the hard way !

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

Burn off, then get ground cloth, the cover ground cloth with rip rap. Not cheep but will keep ground in place, look ok, and will do well in any climate

 

[colbyt]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

No one in their right mind would ever plant Kudzu.

I think ivy or some of the vincas might solve your drainage ditch problem. The vincas are a bit less invasive. Can an will upload a pic if you desire one.

 

[PiratePast40]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

You may want to look into spray seeding. They mix the seed with water and fertilizer and can spray it onto most any slope. I've even seen them add a green flock type of material to help hold the seed in place and retain moisture for rapid germination. They can also spray chopped up straw on the slope.

 

[sasto]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

Burn off, then get ground cloth, the cover ground cloth with rip rap. Not cheep but will keep ground in place, look ok, and will do well in any climate

2nd this one!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

I think we should export kudzu up north. After it covers their state each summer, the Yankees will think twice about moving south where it is even worse. :lol:

Kudzu is ugly and will take over.

Here some ideas - The GreenMan: Smart Solutions for Steep, Sunny Slopes

Do you have your plant beds mulched? That's a good weed/grass control.

 

[generator12]

Re: Two questions on lawn and garden care...

If you can get your hands on some you can spray the ditch bank with MSMA. It will kill off most anything but the burmuda grass. Also, if you can find some 2-4-D (which I doubt) its good to spray ditch banks with it will only kill broad leaf weeds. Neither of these chemicals will kill woody type plants. You dont want to use anything like roundup cause it will kill off the grasses you want to keep and the ditch banks will start to erode.

Ya might want to try something like Asian Jasmin or English Ivy. Kudzu would be an extremely bad idea. Believe me, I live in the land of kudzu and if you think the ditch bank is a ***** to fool with now.....plant some kudzu on it. You'll learn the hard way !

ehank, I'm not trying to grow grass. I'm trying to replace it with something I don't have to mow..!

I looked into all the suggestions place early on and I'm more/less decided to use a basic ground cover (can't remember the name, but I have it and it spreads reasonably well) along with lilies. If I can just get some vegetation on the walls of the ditch so it will not erode, but also not require me with a weed-whacker or hand mower every week, I'll feel I've succeeded.

Thanks guys.