# Suggestions to crowd out grass with groundcover?



## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

Part of the property we bought a year ago has almost one acre of full sun grass. This is visible from the road, so it needs to be kept up. It's flat, few trees, just grass - blech. A portion of this is over the leach lines for the septic so I need to be careful here. This land does not connect to any pasture or garden area. I am looking for a miracle maybe :gaptooth:
I'd like to plant a ground cover to avoid mowing this area. I do not want to have to use herbicide to kill off the grass, I'd prefer something I can plant that will squeeze out the grass over time. I don't mind mowing for a period of time while the ground cover establishes itself.

I was thinking of a combination of mints? Has anyone had such a miracle they could share or maybe something that didn't work well they could help me avoid? Thanks.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I've seen people who did that with a prairie wild flower mix but it did take them mowing it once a year to keep down noxious weeds.
Mints will not stay where you want them- if they are happy you will find them alll over in places that may not make them so happy.
If you have some sheep, they are problably not heavy eanough to compact the ground if you let them in periodically.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

What's sun grass? Bermuda? If so you might be outta luck


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## tentance (Aug 16, 2012)

i don't know of anything that will reliably crowd out grass, but if you were to put in a line of trees that could shade the area very darkly, grass will have trouble growing there. so will everything else. except ferns, maybe.
actually my bidens (an aster) will outcompete grass. dandelions up north. you maybe could grow dandelions there, they don't very get tall so might never need mowing. your neighbors may not appreciate!


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## katheh (Jul 21, 2012)

I am crowding out my grass with a clover mix.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GZ9JKW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

katheh said:


> I am crowding out my grass with a clover mix.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GZ9JKW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Why might I ask?


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## katheh (Jul 21, 2012)

Because our soil is poor, I don't want to treat for dandelions, and I already have over 1/2 the yard in raised beds as it is. 

Less mowing.


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## Steve in PA (Nov 25, 2011)

Well, I have a problem with ground Ivy choking out the grass in my yard. It's darn near impossible to kill without chemical warfare. Even when I do start winning the battle I lose because reinforcements come from the neighbor's yards.

It's also known as Creeping Charlie


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

There's just something special about a clover lawn. The only problem is that it looks sad and bare for half the year.

I'm having more trouble with grass than any other weed I've dealt with. One of my flower beds is full of grass again. I resorted to spraying the clump grass. nothing else kills it, even the systemic grass killer doesn't work well with just one application.

You could try tilling and smothering but it's a lot of work to do it for an acre. Till the area and plant an annual crop of clover or buckwheat (couple other things work too, just can't remember what they are right now). Till again next year and plant some annual flowers. Till the next year and plant what you really want in that spot. Then keep an eye out for grass to move back into the area. Weed as necessary.

Good luck. Even the old prairies had loads of grass growing in them.

Steve, try wood stove ashes. Apply in early spring. Hand pull any survivors. Might take a couple years but the effort is sooooo worth the results. Worked in my yard. I spread the ashes pretty thick, covered the ivy in some places. Grass survived.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

katheh said:


> Because our soil is poor, I don't want to treat for dandelions, and I already have over 1/2 the yard in raised beds as it is.
> 
> Less mowing.


Poor soil can be fixed with core aeration and top dressing, grass is easier to mow and doesn't clog the mower deck near as bad as clover and weeds.

Have you performed a soil test?


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## WestFork (Dec 20, 2012)

Lawn is a good ground cover. Costs less per square foot than any other. Less maintenance than other ground covers also. If it was in the shade, you would have many options. The main problem we have in the landscape profession, is keep grasses out of our ornamental ground cover beds. Don't think that ground covers are zero maintenance. I'd just stick with lawn and try to improve it. Not much bother mowing twice a week, really.


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## katheh (Jul 21, 2012)

I know what is wrong, it's a city lot built in the past 15 years and all the healthy soil was stripped off and sold. The front yard is poisoned every year with road salt.

I don't much care to have a grass lawn, per se. HOA says it must be green, so clover it is, because that actually grows pretty well and chokes out most of the broadleaf weeds.

I have a push mower, it handles the clover mix fine as long as I keep the blades sharpened.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

katheh said:


> I know what is wrong, it's a city lot built in the past 15 years and all the healthy soil was stripped off and sold. The front yard is poisoned every year with road salt.
> 
> I don't much care to have a grass lawn, per se. HOA says it must be green, so clover it is, because that actually grows pretty well and chokes out most of the broadleaf weeds.
> 
> I have a push mower, it handles the clover mix fine as long as I keep the blades sharpened.


I personally don't think the HOA is gonna like clover...weeds are green and HOA's don't like them. I normally get a few calls per season from a potential customer that has the HOA breathing down his back...either weeds or tall grass.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

SkagitBrooms said:


> Lawn is a good ground cover. Costs less per square foot than any other. Less maintenance than other ground covers also. If it was in the shade, you would have many options. The main problem we have in the landscape profession, is keep grasses out of our ornamental ground cover beds. Don't think that ground covers are zero maintenance. I'd just stick with lawn and try to improve it. Not much bother mowing twice a week, really.


I agree...

I also agree with another poster, since clover is an annual/bienniel...you will be left with near bare lawn once per season...this is an invitation for more weeds. Bare meaning...dirt.


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## katheh (Jul 21, 2012)

None of my lawn is bare, the clovers are there the whole year. Small white flowers in the spring. This is my 4th year of overseeding with clover, the proportion of actual grass is less and less each year. The clovers look nice, easy to keep groomed.

The HOA has bigger fish to fry than my lawn, over 1/2 our small neighborhood are empty foreclosures.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

If it's a full acre, and you plant one mint plant per square foot, you need 43,560 plants. Probably only take 5 years to fully cover the whole works. Air circulation would be lost and the whole field would die of mint rust disease. Then you would have a bare field to plant in clover!

Martin


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## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

Ah, thanks all. This conversation took an interesting turn and I learned a lot. I guess I'm going to mow the grass for a while until I come up with another idea. I appreciated everyone's feedback and my eyes were opened to some things I hadn't thought about - that's why I posted.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

mzgarden said:


> Ah, thanks all. This conversation took an interesting turn and I learned a lot. I guess I'm going to mow the grass for a while until I come up with another idea. I appreciated everyone's feedback and my eyes were opened to some things I hadn't thought about - that's why I posted.


Core aerate, fertilize and top dress with some compost and call me in the morning! You will be surprised at how well it will do...depending on the type of grass you may need to overseed.


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

a pair of sheep lol


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