what to plant to outcompete grass

[Greggorio]

Further thought plant something that flowers between flows (so once OSR goes over) and or after main flow - best to have some plants when there are gaps

My missus has access due to her degree to scientific journals so I've been looking into OSR and apparently you can be safe if they can't see it (if they can see it they will travel up to 3 miles to get to it) and there is enough forage between you and it but yeah I'm stuffed so I'd better read up on how best to market solid honey

I think to compete with grass my best bet is perennials and not annuals as they will have a root system ready established and shoot up past the grass before it can suppress seedlings.

I have read golden rod is good as it's late flowering, spreads like crazy etc and is perennial. I just need to figure out if it will appreciate my soil

 

[madasafish]

My missus has access due to her degree to scientific journals so I've been looking into OSR and apparently you can be safe if they can't see it (if they can see it they will travel up to 3 miles to get to it) and there is enough forage between you and it but yeah I'm stuffed so I'd better read up on how best to market solid honey

I think to compete with grass my best bet is perennials and not annuals as they will have a root system ready established and shoot up past the grass before it can suppress seedlings.

I have read golden rod is good as it's late flowering, spreads like crazy etc and is perennial. I just need to figure out if it will appreciate my soil

Golden rod spreads wildly.. I am going o try to eradicate it after two years in our garden.. or takeover will commence....

 

[Greggorio]

Ok I've read that it is an insane spreading thing that will outcompete grass and is a bugger to stop or control... ok so maybe not that afterall. The part of my research that convinced me was that large areas in China have been lost to farming because of it hahaha

 

[wessexmario]

Golden rod spreads wildly..

it probably depends on the soil... I've had a patch in my garden for years and it's very much kept where it is. Not that deep rooted so easy to pull up the plants at the edges where it does spread.

 

[Bob D.]

Golden rod spreads wildly.. I am going o try to eradicate it after two years in our garden.. or takeover will commence....

Not in my garden. After eight years the only way it spreads is if we lift and divide
a clump, which we still do about every other year. Still a good late season flower.

Also have michaelmas daisy and rosebay willow herb for late season. The michaelmas
also needs help although the rosebay seems to be looking after itself now.

Still struggling to get teasels established despite all the warnings about them being invasive.

We cut and remove long grass once a year in autumn, this year we were rewarded with
a magnificent spread of oxeye daisy, but saw more bumbles on them than our own bees.

Plant for your pleasure, at best what you plant can be no more than an emergency snack
close to the hives.

 

[theeggman]

Borage receives many peoples' vote as the most bee-attractive plant - and of course is also grown in fields commercially. I have a borage patch on my allotment and usually the flowers attract more honey bees than bumbles - the opposite of many other species. I do not sow anew because it self-seeds and seedlings survive the winter and bloom in late spring while other seeds germinate to bloom mid to late summer. I am unsure whether seed sown into grass would get established.

On our ground the few borage seeds that OH scattered have taken over a 10mt. square patch and are coming up from self sown seeds 25mts. away in grass. I've strimmed it, dug it and the next phase is roundup. It spreads like wildfire so be aware.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Ground elder?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ground elder?

Balsam?

I'm stuffed so I'd better read up on how best to market solid honey

Make soft set?

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Seriously, Pachysandra is great ground cover.

 

[mintmoth]

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is perennial, likes damp ground and stream edges (you say you're near marsh) grows about two feet tall, it's a British native, and bees love it. It flowers about now.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is perennial, likes damp ground and stream edges (you say you're near marsh) grows about two feet tall, it's a British native, and bees love it. It flowers about now.

That would work, and there may be other local plants he could use. Best bet is to look around and see what else grows well.

Greggorio is in France.

 

[RogueDrone]

Fence it well and introduce rabbits to the apiary.

 

[Greggorio]

Fence it well and introduce rabbits to the apiary.

I want flowers for the bees as my main concernm though I do have rabbits in an electric fenced area so I could do that for the apiary. Though not this year I think

 

[Millet]

Rose bay willow herb / thistles / dandelion's / Clover and if you are allowed too Himalayan balsam/ meadow sweet / honey suckle / greater napweed ..the list is endless do a google search you will get more info than you need from that..

 

[Greggorio]

Oooh Himalayan balsam sounds perfect. It can't spread far outside our marsh as all surrounding land has livestock which will graze or trample it. Even our marsh is partially grazed by the neighbours cows. Now I just have to find some seeds!

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk

 

[mintmoth]

Where does the water from your marsh drain to? Seeds will float in watercourses and spread over many miles like that. HB is also a dehiscent plant, shooting its seeds several metres away. Before you consider sowing any, do check local by-laws on sowing/planting invasive non-native species. You don't want to end up with a massive fine and clean-up bill.

"I. glandulifera is regarded as an important invader in several European countries and is on the EPPO list of invasive alien plants, “as posing an important threat to plant health, the environment and biodiversity in the EPPO region. It is on the Swiss 'black list' of harmful invasives (Anon., 2002), listed as invasive in Austria (Essl and Rabitsch, 2002), and is among those invasives in Germany against which specific control measures are directed (Kowarik, 2003). I. glandulifera is also a declared noxious weed in the USA, in Connecticut, Oregon and Washington (USAD-ARS, 2008)."

http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/28766#20127201272

 

[Greggorio]

There is no stream any more, it drains below the surface into a pipe so seeds wouldnt be able to go anywhere. Not to mention that where I would plant it is surrounded by a livestock area before it even reaches the pipe (that is underground) so any that try and creep that way will be grazed down.

I'm a gardener by trade so I can easily keep an eye on it. I have read it can fire its seeds up to 6m (though normally 2m) but that still will not get 1/4 of the way to the watercourse.

Also no laws in France that I can find. You should see how much japanese knotweed there is over here, they for the most part have no idea what it is

Either way I still need seeds so it seems I'm unlikely to get it anyway as I strongly doubt you can buy them online

 

[beecology]

defo avoid balsam - nightmare in the seed bank. If you really want to do something worthwhile, plant native plants that do well in your area - those are the plants adapted to the local conditions and support the native fauna

 

[Amari]

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is perennial, likes damp ground and stream edges (you say you're near marsh) grows about two feet tall, it's a British native, and bees love it. It flowers about now.

2ft!!!? D'you mean 2m??? Ooops for some reason I can't upload the pic of loosestrife in my garden - taller than me

 

[Greggorio]

2ft!!!? D'you mean 2m??? Ooops for some reason I can't upload the pic of loosestrife in my garden - taller than me

just googled that and I wondered what it was growing in huge patches on some of the verges. Definitely more like 5ft than 2ft though