A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Need help!!!!! with Caragana shrubs

HI

I have a different question.

How do you control the grass underneath a row of caragana trees that we don't rotertill any more.

In a small area you can cut it out by hand or if they are planted further apart then the lawnmower does a nice job.

I'm wondering how you do it. Any new ideas!

how about putting some mulch down?

Has anyone used roundup? And if so how do you use it?

i'd be leary of putting any kind of product down! you don't want to do anything to damage to the trees!!

put down a few layers of newspaper (at least 6 sheets) and then cover with some nice mulch.

to keep the grass from coming back, i'd suggest some kind of barrier be put down to block the spread of the grass roots. there is black plastic edging (very sturdy) that you could cut to fit the area. it can be inserted into the soil all the way up to the top (which has a nice curved lip on it) so that it's not visible. it will block the roots from the grass spreading into that area again.

you could also do some kind of brick border or those paving stones. if you want that kind of look...i get the impression you don't tho


edit:

this isn't the same brand that i have...you can get the idea of what i'm talking about tho

edging stuff

Thanks bunches,

No I want to stay natural as possible. Thanks for your ideas.

I just use landscape fabric and lots of mulch, then we mow right up close to it to keep the grass at bay... sometimes I have to pull it up by the roots, but I get to re-use that as fill too......

rose, that's the thing with that edging stuff - it can be pounded down so that it's barely visible and the grass will grow tall enough so that you can't see it.

vinca would be a nice ground cover too. if it's sunny enough, the vinca will fill in nicely and keep the grass from growing...and that edging stuff will keep the vinca in check, too.

Thanks again