There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

I planted a couple of chocolate mint plants last summer which survived our
colder-than-usual winter. All suggestions are welcome as to what to use
there. It would be ideal if watering was minimal to keep from stretching
a soaker hose out there. There is a concrete rail under the fence so the
plants would be backed by concrete which means there would be extra warmth
for both growing and need of more than usual water (or it could act as a
plus for less water?).

Suggestions, folks?

Glenna

In article fc.003d094101c11426003d094101c11426.1c11444@pmug. org,
(Glenna Rose) wrote:

There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

I planted a couple of chocolate mint plants last summer which survived our
colder-than-usual winter. All suggestions are welcome as to what to use
there. It would be ideal if watering was minimal to keep from stretching
a soaker hose out there. There is a concrete rail under the fence so the
plants would be backed by concrete which means there would be extra warmth
for both growing and need of more than usual water (or it could act as a
plus for less water?).

Suggestions, folks?

Glenna


135 ft. long???
Man! Many folks would give their eye teeth for that much space! lol

I'd put in a variety of herbs in that strip!

The ones that I have that crowd out weeds really well are Oregano,
Creeping thyme, Dittany of crete, and prostrate rosemary.

If you want something permanent that is not for culinary use, I'd put in
a couple of different varieties of wandering jew. Those are beautiful
and can grow very dense, low growing, low maintenance and mine winters
over pretty well.

Once it's there tho', it's forever. G

Usually mint is too, as long as it's peppermint or spearmint. I just
have never, ever had any luck with chocolate mint. ;-( It always dies
no matter _where_ I plant it! sigh

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

"There are many intelligent species in the universe, and they are all owned by cats! -- Asimov

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

In article fc.003d094101c11426003d094101c11426.1c11444@pmug. org,
(Glenna Rose) wrote:

There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

I planted a couple of chocolate mint plants last summer which survived our
colder-than-usual winter. All suggestions are welcome as to what to use
there. It would be ideal if watering was minimal to keep from stretching
a soaker hose out there. There is a concrete rail under the fence so the
plants would be backed by concrete which means there would be extra warmth
for both growing and need of more than usual water (or it could act as a
plus for less water?).

Suggestions, folks?

Glenna


135 ft. long???
Man! Many folks would give their eye teeth for that much space! lol

I'd put in a variety of herbs in that strip!

The ones that I have that crowd out weeds really well are Oregano,
Creeping thyme, Dittany of crete, and prostrate rosemary.

If you want something permanent that is not for culinary use, I'd put in
a couple of different varieties of wandering jew. Those are beautiful
and can grow very dense, low growing, low maintenance and mine winters
over pretty well.

Once it's there tho', it's forever. G

Usually mint is too, as long as it's peppermint or spearmint. I just
have never, ever had any luck with chocolate mint. ;-( It always dies
no matter _where_ I plant it! sigh

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

"There are many intelligent species in the universe, and they are all owned by cats! -- Asimov

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

Glenna Rose wrote:

There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

Suggestions, folks?

You'd make some four-footed friends if you included catmint.

Along with what has already been mentioned, I have yarrow, chamomile and lemon
balm in my herb garden. They naturalize nicely.

--

Julie
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=3008861

Glenna Rose wrote:

There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

Suggestions, folks?

You'd make some four-footed friends if you included catmint.

Along with what has already been mentioned, I have yarrow, chamomile and lemon
balm in my herb garden. They naturalize nicely.

--

Julie
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumList?u=3008861

Several of the artemesias (eg. Silver King, Silver Queen) will spread.
They're not edible but are great for making wreaths. Anise hyssop
will self-seed and fill in nicely. It's good for cooking and teas and
bees. Lemon balm will spread and self-seed, but will be happier in
part shade.

Regards, Dianna
_______________________________________________
To reply, please remove "fluff" from my address.

Several of the artemesias (eg. Silver King, Silver Queen) will spread.
They're not edible but are great for making wreaths. Anise hyssop
will self-seed and fill in nicely. It's good for cooking and teas and
bees. Lemon balm will spread and self-seed, but will be happier in
part shade.

Regards, Dianna
_______________________________________________
To reply, please remove "fluff" from my address.

Julie wrote:

Glenna Rose wrote:

There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

Suggestions, folks?

You'd make some four-footed friends if you included catmint.

Along with what has already been mentioned, I have yarrow, chamomile and
lemon balm in my herb garden. They naturalize nicely.

catnip (self-seeds _profusely_)(the blue-flowered Nepeta grandiflora is
a much worse spreader than the true catnip Nepeta cataria)
hyssop (self-seeds _profusely_)
oregano (self-seeds _profusely_)
California poppy (self-seeds _profusely_)
Mentha longifolia (comes true from seed, spreads by root runners, and is
pretty, too.)
Artemisia ludoviciana (currently trying to conquer the world from my
doorstep; not by self-seeding but by root runners)
elecampane (self-seeds, but isn't as fast to spread as the others. This
one gets very very tall, in flower. Pretty leaves, too.)
mullein (biennial, doesn't spread as fast as the rest, but it's still in
the top 10 in my garden)
motherwort (self-seeds _profusely_, gets rather tall)
ground-ivy (ground cover that spreads by root runners)
musk mallow (self-seeds _profusely_)
caraway (biennial, self-seeds, once it's established you'll have lots of
it.)

Add a potentilla or two and you're pretty much set.

Those are the ones that I weed out of my garden whenever they go to places
I don't want them to go, which is often.

Chamomile and yarrow aren't all that good spreaders, in my garden. Perhaps
because I pull up the yarrow, and the soil isn't what the chamomile wants.
Lemon balm dies pretty much every year over winter, and doesn't self-seed
half as much as I'd like it to.

Henriette

--
Henriette Kress, AHG * * * * * * * * * * *Helsinki, Finland
Henriette's herbal homepage: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed

Julie wrote:

Glenna Rose wrote:

There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

Suggestions, folks?

You'd make some four-footed friends if you included catmint.

Along with what has already been mentioned, I have yarrow, chamomile and
lemon balm in my herb garden. They naturalize nicely.

catnip (self-seeds _profusely_)(the blue-flowered Nepeta grandiflora is
a much worse spreader than the true catnip Nepeta cataria)
hyssop (self-seeds _profusely_)
oregano (self-seeds _profusely_)
California poppy (self-seeds _profusely_)
Mentha longifolia (comes true from seed, spreads by root runners, and is
pretty, too.)
Artemisia ludoviciana (currently trying to conquer the world from my
doorstep; not by self-seeding but by root runners)
elecampane (self-seeds, but isn't as fast to spread as the others. This
one gets very very tall, in flower. Pretty leaves, too.)
mullein (biennial, doesn't spread as fast as the rest, but it's still in
the top 10 in my garden)
motherwort (self-seeds _profusely_, gets rather tall)
ground-ivy (ground cover that spreads by root runners)
musk mallow (self-seeds _profusely_)
caraway (biennial, self-seeds, once it's established you'll have lots of
it.)

Add a potentilla or two and you're pretty much set.

Those are the ones that I weed out of my garden whenever they go to places
I don't want them to go, which is often.

Chamomile and yarrow aren't all that good spreaders, in my garden. Perhaps
because I pull up the yarrow, and the soil isn't what the chamomile wants.
Lemon balm dies pretty much every year over winter, and doesn't self-seed
half as much as I'd like it to.

Henriette

--
Henriette Kress, AHG * * * * * * * * * * *Helsinki, Finland
Henriette's herbal homepage: http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 18:00:16 -0700, (Glenna Rose)
wrote:

There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

I planted a couple of chocolate mint plants last summer which survived our
colder-than-usual winter. All suggestions are welcome as to what to use
there. It would be ideal if watering was minimal to keep from stretching
a soaker hose out there. There is a concrete rail under the fence so the
plants would be backed by concrete which means there would be extra warmth
for both growing and need of more than usual water (or it could act as a
plus for less water?).

Suggestions, folks?

Glenna

Various thymes! Creeping thymes, wooly thyme is a common one that
will take the heat and dry areas. Oregano.. there are culinary Greek
Oregano which is kind of dry but hot and peppery in flavor, there are
also other "ornamental" oreganos like Golden, that are not culinary,
they just taste like grass. You could use some bush type thymes in
some areas too.. there are lemon thymes in both creeping and bush
types, usually green with yellow edged leaves, an there are silver
thymes.. green with white edges.. there are scads of different ones!

Feel free to become obsessed with thyme ;-)

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 18:00:16 -0700, (Glenna Rose)
wrote:

There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

I planted a couple of chocolate mint plants last summer which survived our
colder-than-usual winter. All suggestions are welcome as to what to use
there. It would be ideal if watering was minimal to keep from stretching
a soaker hose out there. There is a concrete rail under the fence so the
plants would be backed by concrete which means there would be extra warmth
for both growing and need of more than usual water (or it could act as a
plus for less water?).

Suggestions, folks?

Glenna

Various thymes! Creeping thymes, wooly thyme is a common one that
will take the heat and dry areas. Oregano.. there are culinary Greek
Oregano which is kind of dry but hot and peppery in flavor, there are
also other "ornamental" oreganos like Golden, that are not culinary,
they just taste like grass. You could use some bush type thymes in
some areas too.. there are lemon thymes in both creeping and bush
types, usually green with yellow edged leaves, an there are silver
thymes.. green with white edges.. there are scads of different ones!

Feel free to become obsessed with thyme ;-)

(Glenna Rose) wrote in message news:fc.003d094101c11426003d094101c11426.1c11444@ pmug.org...
There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

I planted a couple of chocolate mint plants last summer which survived our
colder-than-usual winter. All suggestions are welcome as to what to use
there. It would be ideal if watering was minimal to keep from stretching
a soaker hose out there. There is a concrete rail under the fence so the
plants would be backed by concrete which means there would be extra warmth
for both growing and need of more than usual water (or it could act as a
plus for less water?).

Suggestions, folks?

Glenna

thyme, oregano, lemon balm all form dense groundcovers which do not
let anything else grow. Given that you have that much space, I would
consider some perennial
edible, including asparagus, sorrel, horseradish, and raspberry.
All these can be grown under the thyme or oregano, and they will poke
through in the spring. Lingonberries will also form a thick cover,
though perhaps too tall to have asparagus or sorrel under. Asparagus
needs a fertile bed, and lingonberries need acid soil. Everything else
is undemanding and will do just fine with only a bit of wood chip
mulch and no water. sorrel, oregano, and lemon balm will even tolerate
part sun, the rest will want full sun.

(Glenna Rose) wrote in message news:fc.003d094101c11426003d094101c11426.1c11444@ pmug.org...
There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

I planted a couple of chocolate mint plants last summer which survived our
colder-than-usual winter. All suggestions are welcome as to what to use
there. It would be ideal if watering was minimal to keep from stretching
a soaker hose out there. There is a concrete rail under the fence so the
plants would be backed by concrete which means there would be extra warmth
for both growing and need of more than usual water (or it could act as a
plus for less water?).

Suggestions, folks?

Glenna

thyme, oregano, lemon balm all form dense groundcovers which do not
let anything else grow. Given that you have that much space, I would
consider some perennial
edible, including asparagus, sorrel, horseradish, and raspberry.
All these can be grown under the thyme or oregano, and they will poke
through in the spring. Lingonberries will also form a thick cover,
though perhaps too tall to have asparagus or sorrel under. Asparagus
needs a fertile bed, and lingonberries need acid soil. Everything else
is undemanding and will do just fine with only a bit of wood chip
mulch and no water. sorrel, oregano, and lemon balm will even tolerate
part sun, the rest will want full sun.

In article
fc.003d094101c11426003d094101c11426.1c11444@pmug. org,
says...
There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

I'll second the thyme and oregano, but throw in a couple of
clumps of chives. You'll never use them all, but they sure are
good when fresh, and they're pretty when they bloom.

Rosemary will spread quite well also.

--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?

In article
fc.003d094101c11426003d094101c11426.1c11444@pmug. org,
says...
There is a strip between the sidewalk and fence along my south fence that
I'd like to fill with herbs, etc., that spread and "take over" so that
it's so dense that weeds, grass, etc. will feel unwelcome and not be a
problem. The strip is about 12 inches wide (and 135 feet long).

I'll second the thyme and oregano, but throw in a couple of
clumps of chives. You'll never use them all, but they sure are
good when fresh, and they're pretty when they bloom.

Rosemary will spread quite well also.

--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?