Southern Spirit Hunters
Gardening => Gardeners Chat => Topic started by: Patty S on Sep 01, 2007, 12:16:18 AM
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The field next to us is all dead & dry now, since we don't have much summer rain here.
It's a good thing that someone mowed it in July, cuz in past years it wasn't being mowed, & was a real concern for those of us living on the edges of it. All it would take is a careless cigarette tossed out a car window from the street below, to ignite the whole thing. We all had to mow our own firebreaks along our property lines, but that was actually not a whole lot of comfort for us, as we had a field in Montana that we grew alfalfa or oats on, & after the harvest, that stubble would actually burn faster than the tall spots that were left! (https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi75.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi309%2Fgottahavegraphics%2FSmileyNailbiting.gif&hash=a81916c179bdb649c7a84ed80bdaadf1812e4314) Last year while visiting with our Fire Chief, I mentioned the neglected field, & he must have looked up the owner & said something to him, cuz it's been mowed every few months, since! :clap:
ANYWAY... that wasn't what I intended to talk about! :SlapSelf: As I was saying, the field is all dead & dry now, except for a strip that's about 3 feet wide, right next to my Iris row, where it gets the run-off when I water the plants on the hill above the Iris. I noticed today that those grasses are heading up & making seeds, so I got out the weed eater after dinner & wacked them down... but not before I took a few pics! :wink5: (I don't know the names of any of these.)
There's one kind of grass that I think is really pretty when the breeze blows & it "ripples", but I don't want it in our yard or on our hill, so it had to come down.
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi75.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi309%2Fgottahavegraphics%2FMisc%2520plants%2FFieldGrassa.jpg&hash=a9ec4d1c79734f467e236c270da85ad254a4605e)
Another one is just a pain in the rear, cuz it's very prolific & will take off anywhere it can. This is a HUGE pest in my gardens!
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi75.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi309%2Fgottahavegraphics%2FMisc%2520plants%2FFieldGrassb1.jpg&hash=1e641fe48aface685d52c129cf04273e765b9e04)
Sorry... didn't have a nickel with me, but that's a close-up! :Whis:
The REAL demon grass is next to my Deer Barrier garden. I wouldn't even call it "grass", cuz it's more like plants... complete with a rhizome-type root! It's pretty enough, cuz it's the nice big kind that you can slip a blade reed from & chew on it (like the "redneck hayseeds" do, according to BG!) (https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi75.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi309%2Fgottahavegraphics%2FLaughingHead-1.gif&hash=05a3dc9ff24b72847170ac2481ddc7d2697e3f43) It's really sweet tasting, but I've been working on this patch of grass for 3 years now, & can't seem to stay ahead of it!
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi75.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi309%2Fgottahavegraphics%2FMisc%2520plants%2FGrassRoots.jpg&hash=f9b6cf8c910fb9f1cda83ca4d4d2011804eae0cb)
(I didn't get a pic of the grass before I cut it down, but you can see a couple of the wide, dark green blades next to the root, in the pic above.)
That "root" isn't where it stops though! With a shovel, you can get down to the real "meat" of this plant, & see how it spreads so easily!
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi75.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi309%2Fgottahavegraphics%2FMisc%2520plants%2FRoots8-1.jpg&hash=f0cc741a7d8b6b64855b0ec751f06b30c1ceb059)
It's extremely draught tolerant, & must be in the "super duper hardy" classification! It's a genuine PAIN! Care must be taken when this is dug out, cuz even a little piece of it will generate a whole new plant! :tickedoff:
(Now why won't flowers do that?!) :SmileyFit:
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The first picture sure looks like the foxtail that Franny had in the mystery topic.
The second one looks very similiar to the dreaded bermuda grass (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/i_and_i/invasive_spp/bermudagrass_lge.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/i_and_i/invasive_spp/bermuda_grass.html&h=802&w=700&sz=96&tbnid=90odF4HKZpIOBM:&tbnh=143&tbnw=125&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbermuda%2Bgrass%26um%3D1&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2).
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Here's a picture of some of my Bermuda Grass. :mad2: :SmileyFit: :Vent:
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi11.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa154%2Fpatches1414%2FOdds%2520and%2520Ends%2FBermudaGrass.jpg&hash=79423bfa0870299c5487be8d0300842a4b78d3af)