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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] crabgrass eradication

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  • From: "Linda Shewan" <linda.shewan@bryn.com.au>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] crabgrass eradication
  • Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2007 19:18:41 +1000

Hi Dieter,

I can't remember what this thread started with - ie. what your ultimate
use of the land is but I was just listening to Malcolm Rand the founder
of ecostore in NZ (link to Kiwi radio on www.ecostore.co.nz)

Kikuyu is a huge problem in NZ and he got rid of 2 acres of it by
planting acacia dealbata at quite close spacings. The dense shade and
large amount of leaf drop produced by these really rapid growing legume
trees resulted in the kikuyu being completely shaded out within 4 years.
He then cut down the acacias when he was ready to plant another tree in
it's place.

Could this work for you - no type of grass grows strongly in shade does
it?

Linda (Kiwi in Aus)



-----Original Message-----
From: Dieter Brand [mailto:diebrand@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, 24 June 2007 6:16 PM
To: permaculture
Subject: Re: [permaculture] crabgrass eradication

Golden,

I wasn't sure about the correct English denomination. It is Quecken in

German. I think we probably have all three: crabgrass, Bermuda grass
and Kikuyu grass. The one that has spread most, which I called
crabgrass (but may be Bermuda grass), has extensive whitish rhizomes
underground which will turn brown and woody when old, runners on the
surface, green blades with a bluish taint and, if I have observed
correctly, tiny black seeds. I forgot, the rhizomes have nodes; if one
of these nodes stays in the soil, a new bundle of grass will grow
from it.

Dieter Brand
Portugal


Golden Love <goldenlove@cruzio.com> wrote:
Hello Dieter,

I think what you have is Bermuda Grass. Crabgrass does not have
underground
rhizomes, if any at all. It is more like a bunch grass and has wider
leaves
than the Bermuda Grass.

Golden Love
Love's Gardens
Creating and Maintaining Sustainable Urban Landscapes
California Licensed Contractor C27 363672
127 National St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone (831) 471-9100
Fax ( 831) 471-9200
goldenlove@cruzio.com

-----Original Message-----
From: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Dieter
Brand
Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2007 6:42 AM
To: permaculture
Subject: Re: [permaculture] crabgrass eradication

Steve,

I know that crabgrass goes dormant in fall and starts growing
again when the weather gets warm in the spring, but I was of
the opinion that it grows from the rhizomes, apart from
the seeds that is. I can't really proof this, but when digging
out rhizomes from my vegetable garden last March, the green
blades had only just shown above the surface, while a large
network of rhizomes reached at least 1 foot underground
with older pieces which had gone almost woody. It would
have been impossible for the rhizomes to grow in the few
warm days we had until March. And there is no reason
why the tiny seeds should germinate at a depth of a foot
or more. Perhaps, the difference can be explained by the
climate. We only occasionally have light nighttime frost
in the winter.

By the way, referring to an earlier post of yours, it is quite
easy to dig out crabgrass from loose garden soil if you
use a spading fork (if that is the term used in English, it is
called Grabgabel in German) to loosen the soil near the
crabgrass, then you can carefully pull the whole bundle
of rhizomes out of the ground at one go. Never use a spade.
A spade will cut the rhizomes into smaller pieces which will
each grow into a new rhizome.

Dieter Brand
Portugal



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