On 7/10/11 8:50 AM, David E. Ross wrote:
On 7/10/11 8:22 AM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Jul 10, 7:19 am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 7/9/11 11:05 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Jul 9, 1:29 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 7/9/11 12:02 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
Last year I bought a flat of Pink Clover and went to a LOT of trouble
to spread the little plants around an area where I wanted ground
cover. At first they did fine;seemed to be spreading; bore those cute
tiny flowers.
But last few months, the leaves have turned red.
Does that mean this is an ANNUAL???!!!! That the plant is dying? Or
is it going into -- can't think of the word; my mind is going g -
temporary inactivity? Or what else could be happening? It's July,
facrynoutloud; plants should be flourishing.
Any experience out there?
TIA
HB
I had my entire front lawn planted with pink clover (Persicaria
capitata) more than three years ago. I also have it as a ground cover
in my rose bed in back. It is growing quite vigorously and needs to be
trimmed around the edges 3-5 times each year.
It does need some water. Mine is irrigated by lawn sprinklers every
third day. However, it is not really a thirsty plant. Thus, I set the
timer for my front lawn for fewer minutes than the rest of my garden.
I feed it generously every spring with an off-brand lawn food.
Formula?
In the late fall, I sometimes broadcast a generous amount of gypsum
over it so
that the winter rains (if we get any) will disolve the gypsum and leach
it into the soil to break up the clay.
Given that my micro-climate (SM beach) is different from yours, should
I still apply the gypsum?
Also: If we don't get winter rains, do I need to compensate by heavy
irrigation?
Last, my soil is not really clay-y, after decades of modification by
previous owners and moi. So in that case, should I hold off on the
gypsum?
When I had some repairs done to the front of my house, the workers wore
a path through the pink clover. I dosed the path with gypsum. Two
weeks later, I dosed it with lawn food. The path disappeared.
In the late fall, leaves from three large trees in front (oak,
liquidambar, and zelkova) cover the pink clover. This mulch helps
protect the plants from frost. Any exposed shoots turn quite red. Some
shoots even get frost burn despite the fact that we never really get
freezing temperatures. In the spring, the pink clover grows up through
the leaf mulch; and any surviving red shoots return to green.
We don't have frost, and this is MID-SUMMER, so why are my leaves
turning red???
TIA
HB
I go to Orchard Supply and Hardware (OSH) and get their house-brand of
lawn food (27-0-6), the plain stuff without any insecticide or weed
killer. It's the cheapest source of nitrogen I could find, short of
ammonium sulfate (which can burn many plants). I use it throughout my
garden with exceptions for roses, camellias, azaleas, and citrus.
Generally, I feed my garden -- including the red fescue lawn in back --
only once a year, in the spring.
I feed my roses once a month, alternating between a commercial flower
fertilizer with a systemic insecticide and ammonium sulfate. The first
feeding, just as growth buds start to open, is ammonium sulfate plus
iron and magnesium sulfates. Roses really like an acid soil. I stop
feeding at the end of October so that I'm not cutting brand new shoots
when I prune around New Year.
I feed my camellias and azaleas with a slow-acting commercial azalea,
camellia, and rhododendron fertilizer. I do this after they stop
blooming.
I very lightly feed my citrus every three weeks, starting in March and
ending in the first half of October. They are dwarfs with three in
large pots and one in a raised bed. The soil mix for all four is very
fast draining, which means nutrients leach away quickly. I alternate
between a commercial citrus fertilizer and ammonium sulfate with iron
sulfate. At each feeding, I add two pinches of zinc sulfate. When I
feed the citrus, I also give my gardenia the same feeding.
You don't need gypsum unless your soil is clay. After 38 years of
working in my current garden, heavy clay is still a problem for me.
Late last year, I used over 100 pounds of gypsum. Eventually, it
leaches away; and the soil again becomes sticky and dense.
Thanks much for that! I haven't been kind enough to my roses, and my
lawn is -- don't ask! All advice very helpful.
Now, could you address the pink clover question:
"We don't have frost, and this is MID-SUMMER, so why are my leaves
turning red?"
If it's only the leaves, don't worry. It happens. They always have a
reddish tinge. Sunset says that mature leaves are definitely pink.
If it's the stems too, worry. The plants are not getting established
for some reason. Check your soil moisture; it should be somewhat moist
but not really wet. Once it's established, pink clover is not at all a
thirsty plant. Was the soil dug and organic matter incorporated before
planting?
Pink clover is actually slow to get established. My front lawn was
planted with about 18 inches between plants. It took almost a year to
get good coverage. Even now, three years later, there are a few thin
spots where I can see the soil through the plants.
I have a really bad cold and did not go outside to check before I wrote
the above.
My front lawn is solid pink clover. Many stems are pink or even red,
even for very vigorous individual plants.
Furthermore, many of the leaves are bright pink or red. While this
might indicate a lack of nutrients or the need for an acidfier, I
generally ignore it. I have patches of red or pink all over the lawn.
If it bothers you, try broadcasting a little iron sulfate over the pink
clover. I would definitely not use ammonium sulfate because that will
likely burn the plants; it does burn the pink clover around my roses in
back when I feed the roses with ammonium sulfate. Soil sulfur might
help, but it will take a long, long time as soil bacteria slowly convert
it into sulfuric acide; in the meantime, you must be careful to rinse it
off of all foliage.
--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary