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I had trouble with dutch clover being juicy in wet years - I had it interplanted with my lawn, and it clogged the mower if I let it get too lush.  The lawn seems to have taken over, and I sort of miss the clover, despite the problems.

But I have to ask - why do you need to mow every week or two?  The part of my lawn that I don't fertilize only gets mowed 4-5 times per year (and looks surprisingly lawn-like).  In an orchard, where you don't need to keep the neighbors happy with a nice lawn, I wouldn't think you'd need to mow all that often - you just need a mower that can cut really high.

Ginda

On Apr 24, 2004, at 5:41 PM, Lon J. Rombough wrote:

> Comfrey is a great soil builder, but it's not good in the orchard.  It brings up minerals from deep in the soil and really loosens hard, clay soils, but it's so juicy it's a mess to mow.  Best use I ever saw of it was by a woman who had two acres separate from the orchard.  She cut it regularly with a sickle bar mower and put it in the orchard as mulch.  Her peaches and nectarines were the best I've ever tasted anywhere.
> -Lon Rombough
>
>
>
>
>
> Not using chemical herbicides or mechanical tilling,
>  I'm not going to be able to keep the ground bare.  
>  What would be a good groundcover?  Does dutch clover
>  or subterranean clover add too much N for the pears
>  and apples?  vetch?  How about comfrey - that uses up
>  N and is deep rooted, does it compete with the trees?
>
>  Is "orchard grass" as difficult to keep under control
>  as the grass and weed mix we have now?  We have to mow
>
>  every week or two, which is way too much work.
>
>  Lisa in Ashland Oregon
>  USDA Z7 - Sunset Z7 - 1800' - 19" annual rainfall
>
>
>   
>    
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