Anyone have any thoughts about this... I have wild strawberries growing
everywhere. The fruit is tiny and maybe 1 in 10 wasn't bitter, but not
sweet either. Anyway just for the hell of it I started mowing around it
when it's flowering and bearing fruit. For some reason this year the
fruit is much larger and most of it tastes neutral and some of it is
actually a little sweet! So I've been letting it go in the gardens for
about a year and it seems like it will be a very nice ground cover. it
isn't taking over anything but open space. Well in the lawn it may be
taking over some grass, but I don't mind it... so far.

Anyone have any experience with this? I'd like to put it on steroids
and sick it on the Bermuda grass! As is I don't think it will crowd out
the Bermuda grass, but I can hope can't I?

Thoughts?

On 6/7/2010 10:02 PM, Tony wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts about this... I have wild strawberries growing
everywhere. The fruit is tiny and maybe 1 in 10 wasn't bitter, but not
sweet either. Anyway just for the hell of it I started mowing around it
when it's flowering and bearing fruit. For some reason this year the
fruit is much larger and most of it tastes neutral and some of it is
actually a little sweet! So I've been letting it go in the gardens for
about a year and it seems like it will be a very nice ground cover. it
isn't taking over anything but open space. Well in the lawn it may be
taking over some grass, but I don't mind it... so far.

Anyone have any experience with this? I'd like to put it on steroids and
sick it on the Bermuda grass! As is I don't think it will crowd out the
Bermuda grass, but I can hope can't I?

Thoughts?


I'm tending to to this in areas where I have slopes and have been trying
to establish ivy. My problem is deer and while most people curse ivy as
evasive, it's not evasive here. There are native plants, some weeds,
that the deer do not eat and now I'm just letting them grow.

Frank wrote:
On 6/7/2010 10:02 PM, Tony wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts about this... I have wild strawberries growing
everywhere. The fruit is tiny and maybe 1 in 10 wasn't bitter, but not
sweet either. Anyway just for the hell of it I started mowing around it
when it's flowering and bearing fruit. For some reason this year the
fruit is much larger and most of it tastes neutral and some of it is
actually a little sweet! So I've been letting it go in the gardens for
about a year and it seems like it will be a very nice ground cover. it
isn't taking over anything but open space. Well in the lawn it may be
taking over some grass, but I don't mind it... so far.

Anyone have any experience with this? I'd like to put it on steroids and
sick it on the Bermuda grass! As is I don't think it will crowd out the
Bermuda grass, but I can hope can't I?

Thoughts?


I'm tending to to this in areas where I have slopes and have been trying
to establish ivy. My problem is deer and while most people curse ivy as
evasive, it's not evasive here.


I don't see ivy and wild strawberries having the same light requirement.
Where my wild strawberries are, the english ivy would die back from too
much sun. Ivy needs more shade. Managing wild strawberries isn't hard
and it may be a good ground cover, it grows well in rocky and poor
terrain. I'm neutral at the moment.

Jeff

There are native plants, some weeds,
that the deer do not eat and now I'm just letting them grow.

On 6/8/2010 3:04 PM, Jeff Thies wrote:
Frank wrote:
On 6/7/2010 10:02 PM, Tony wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts about this... I have wild strawberries growing
everywhere. The fruit is tiny and maybe 1 in 10 wasn't bitter, but not
sweet either. Anyway just for the hell of it I started mowing around it
when it's flowering and bearing fruit. For some reason this year the
fruit is much larger and most of it tastes neutral and some of it is
actually a little sweet! So I've been letting it go in the gardens for
about a year and it seems like it will be a very nice ground cover. it
isn't taking over anything but open space. Well in the lawn it may be
taking over some grass, but I don't mind it... so far.

Anyone have any experience with this? I'd like to put it on steroids and
sick it on the Bermuda grass! As is I don't think it will crowd out the
Bermuda grass, but I can hope can't I?

Thoughts?


I'm tending to to this in areas where I have slopes and have been
trying to establish ivy. My problem is deer and while most people
curse ivy as evasive, it's not evasive here.


I don't see ivy and wild strawberries having the same light requirement.
Where my wild strawberries are, the english ivy would die back from too
much sun. Ivy needs more shade. Managing wild strawberries isn't hard
and it may be a good ground cover, it grows well in rocky and poor
terrain. I'm neutral at the moment.

Jeff

There are native plants, some weeds,
that the deer do not eat and now I'm just letting them grow.

Not all wild strawberry and ivy but they are both in picture I just took:

http://home.comcast.net/~frank.logullo/ivy.jpg

Still early in year and I suspect ivy will take over. This area is
close to house and not visited as often by the deer.

I was thinking of this area below house where some fine bladed weed has
taken over where I had been trying to establish ivy:

http://home.comcast.net/~frank.logullo/bank.jpg

It looks decent and is in back of house that nobody sees.

Frank wrote:
On 6/8/2010 3:04 PM, Jeff Thies wrote:
Frank wrote:
On 6/7/2010 10:02 PM, Tony wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts about this... I have wild strawberries growing
everywhere. The fruit is tiny and maybe 1 in 10 wasn't bitter, but not
sweet either. Anyway just for the hell of it I started mowing around it
when it's flowering and bearing fruit. For some reason this year the
fruit is much larger and most of it tastes neutral and some of it is
actually a little sweet! So I've been letting it go in the gardens for
about a year and it seems like it will be a very nice ground cover. it
isn't taking over anything but open space. Well in the lawn it may be
taking over some grass, but I don't mind it... so far.

Anyone have any experience with this? I'd like to put it on steroids
and
sick it on the Bermuda grass! As is I don't think it will crowd out the
Bermuda grass, but I can hope can't I?

Thoughts?


I'm tending to to this in areas where I have slopes and have been
trying to establish ivy. My problem is deer and while most people
curse ivy as evasive, it's not evasive here.


I don't see ivy and wild strawberries having the same light requirement.
Where my wild strawberries are, the english ivy would die back from too
much sun. Ivy needs more shade. Managing wild strawberries isn't hard
and it may be a good ground cover, it grows well in rocky and poor
terrain. I'm neutral at the moment.

Jeff

There are native plants, some weeds,
that the deer do not eat and now I'm just letting them grow.

Not all wild strawberry and ivy but they are both in picture I just took:

http://home.comcast.net/~frank.logullo/ivy.jpg

I think the wild strawberry is somewhat tolerant of shade.

Still early in year and I suspect ivy will take over. This area is
close to house and not visited as often by the deer.

I think you are right. Susan and myself would like some deer to feed
on our ivy! The ivy takes 2 or 3 years to establish, and then you wonder
what you've done!

I was thinking of this area below house where some fine bladed weed has
taken over where I had been trying to establish ivy:

http://home.comcast.net/~frank.logullo/bank.jpg

Looks pretty open, I would think sunny too.

It looks decent and is in back of house that nobody sees.

Maybe clover? If it has enough light maybe some wildflower mix. I
have some pretty eclectic cover (some kind of Alyssum), mostly stuff I
found growing nearby and transplanted. No grass. How about something
productive?

If I lived in an upscale neighborhood, the neighbors would complain!

Jeff

On 6/8/2010 10:50 PM, Jeff Thies wrote:
Frank wrote:
On 6/8/2010 3:04 PM, Jeff Thies wrote:
Frank wrote:
On 6/7/2010 10:02 PM, Tony wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts about this... I have wild strawberries
growing
everywhere. The fruit is tiny and maybe 1 in 10 wasn't bitter, but not
sweet either. Anyway just for the hell of it I started mowing
around it
when it's flowering and bearing fruit. For some reason this year the
fruit is much larger and most of it tastes neutral and some of it is
actually a little sweet! So I've been letting it go in the gardens for
about a year and it seems like it will be a very nice ground cover. it
isn't taking over anything but open space. Well in the lawn it may be
taking over some grass, but I don't mind it... so far.

Anyone have any experience with this? I'd like to put it on
steroids and
sick it on the Bermuda grass! As is I don't think it will crowd out
the
Bermuda grass, but I can hope can't I?

Thoughts?


I'm tending to to this in areas where I have slopes and have been
trying to establish ivy. My problem is deer and while most people
curse ivy as evasive, it's not evasive here.


I don't see ivy and wild strawberries having the same light requirement.
Where my wild strawberries are, the english ivy would die back from too
much sun. Ivy needs more shade. Managing wild strawberries isn't hard
and it may be a good ground cover, it grows well in rocky and poor
terrain. I'm neutral at the moment.

Jeff

There are native plants, some weeds,
that the deer do not eat and now I'm just letting them grow.

Not all wild strawberry and ivy but they are both in picture I just took:

http://home.comcast.net/~frank.logullo/ivy.jpg

I think the wild strawberry is somewhat tolerant of shade.

Still early in year and I suspect ivy will take over. This area is
close to house and not visited as often by the deer.

I think you are right. Susan and myself would like some deer to feed on
our ivy! The ivy takes 2 or 3 years to establish, and then you wonder
what you've done!

I was thinking of this area below house where some fine bladed weed
has taken over where I had been trying to establish ivy:

http://home.comcast.net/~frank.logullo/bank.jpg

Looks pretty open, I would think sunny too.

It looks decent and is in back of house that nobody sees.

Maybe clover? If it has enough light maybe some wildflower mix. I have
some pretty eclectic cover (some kind of Alyssum), mostly stuff I found
growing nearby and transplanted. No grass. How about something productive?

If I lived in an upscale neighborhood, the neighbors would complain!

Jeff


My neighborhood is secluded and hilly. I have some neighbors that let
their back yards grow wild and then some neighbors that want to manicure
everything. I prefer it this way compared to large neighboring
developments that get bent out of shape if everything is not perfect.

Frank wrote:
On 6/7/2010 10:02 PM, Tony wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts about this... I have wild strawberries growing
everywhere. The fruit is tiny and maybe 1 in 10 wasn't bitter, but not
sweet either. Anyway just for the hell of it I started mowing around it
when it's flowering and bearing fruit. For some reason this year the
fruit is much larger and most of it tastes neutral and some of it is
actually a little sweet! So I've been letting it go in the gardens for
about a year and it seems like it will be a very nice ground cover. it
isn't taking over anything but open space. Well in the lawn it may be
taking over some grass, but I don't mind it... so far.

Anyone have any experience with this? I'd like to put it on steroids and
sick it on the Bermuda grass! As is I don't think it will crowd out the
Bermuda grass, but I can hope can't I?

Thoughts?


I'm tending to to this in areas where I have slopes and have been trying
to establish ivy. My problem is deer and while most people curse ivy as
evasive, it's not evasive here. There are native plants, some weeds,
that the deer do not eat and now I'm just letting them grow.

I've only heard people from the west coastish areas having problems with
ivy. The say it smothers and kills trees. East coastish ivy seems to
do fine in almost full sun, for me anyway. Any that was in PA and now
in TN. We can get poison ivy that will smother and kill trees, but it's
pretty easy to walk around the trunk and cut all the poison ivy. No
need to remove it, soon it will be dead and allow sun to reach the tree
again.

Tony wrote:
....
Ok, but back to the OP, anyone use wild strawberries as a
ground
cover?

well, i tried in one area, we had a rather
large area devoted to hollyhocks.

in that same area i planted some creeping
jenny which has almost covered that large
area (growing in pretty much solid clay). most
of it is getting dug up and turned in now as we
are reshaping/rethinking that area.

the past few years i've let the wild strawberries
run over the creeping jenny and stopped fighting
the clover that was invading and just enjoyed the
phlox i had planted along the back (north edge)
of the honey suckles...

a few days ago they got mowed down (by the
management ) along with a lot of my phlox i
had worked so hard to get going in there...

so far the wild strawberries are coming back
just fine... so i expect they'll be ok eventually.
i imagine the phlox will recover too. the
goldfinches love the seeds on those phlox
when they get fat.

another area (sunny, west facing slope,
sand even!) has a small garden and i asked
the management to leave them alone there
to see if i could get some berries. i had a
few this year from them. i was hoping to
get more from the other patch, but they were
mowerly challenged...

i wouldn't consider it a primary ground
cover, but if you think in terms of layers
and companion planting it does have nice
red leaves when they fade. just plan on
runners everywhere unless you go for
some alpine version...


songbird

songbird wrote:
Tony wrote:
...
Ok, but back to the OP, anyone use wild strawberries as a ground
cover?

well, i tried in one area, we had a rather
large area devoted to hollyhocks.

in that same area i planted some creeping
jenny which has almost covered that large
area (growing in pretty much solid clay). most
of it is getting dug up and turned in now as we
are reshaping/rethinking that area.

the past few years i've let the wild strawberries
run over the creeping jenny and stopped fighting
the clover that was invading and just enjoyed the
phlox i had planted along the back (north edge)
of the honey suckles...

a few days ago they got mowed down (by the
management ) along with a lot of my phlox i
had worked so hard to get going in there...

so far the wild strawberries are coming back
just fine... so i expect they'll be ok eventually.
i imagine the phlox will recover too. the
goldfinches love the seeds on those phlox
when they get fat.

another area (sunny, west facing slope,
sand even!) has a small garden and i asked
the management to leave them alone there
to see if i could get some berries. i had a
few this year from them. i was hoping to
get more from the other patch, but they were
mowerly challenged...

i wouldn't consider it a primary ground
cover, but if you think in terms of layers
and companion planting it does have nice
red leaves when they fade. just plan on
runners everywhere unless you go for
some alpine version...

This sounds right to me. I haven't seen wild strawberry anywhere as a
dense cover. It's loose and holey. It grows in poor conditions but is
easily out competed.

Let it fill it's nooks, but look for supplements.

Jeff




songbird

"Tony" wrote

That's "Indian strawberry", not Fragaria. Surely
there must be better groundcovers than that?

Well yes, as seen in the pictures, there is moss growing also. Is that
also yucky to you?

As an "edible" the nicest thing I can say about it is it's harmless. It's
also that I wouldn't recommend any plant that's more common than crabgrass
in some places, and that I've spent so much time trying to control. Its
charm for me has long since worn off. Admittedly some of these do look
pretty healthy but my own experience has not been very good with it. You did
ask about experience.
Other plants to consider might be Fragaria, Mitchella repens, or Gaultheria
procumbens. Oh, and I like the moss too (but I don't think I'd eat it)
Best of luck.

English Ivy will grow and smother trees in east TN. My parent planted
it in thier backyard up against the woods where it was very shady.
When they passed, after 25 years, it was smothering the trees along
the edge of the woods.


I've only heard people from the west coastish areas having problems with
ivy. The say it smothers and kills trees. East coastish ivy seems to
do fine in almost full sun, for me anyway. Any that was in PA and now
in TN. We can get poison ivy that will smother and kill trees, but it's
pretty easy to walk around the trunk and cut all the poison ivy. No
need to remove it, soon it will be dead and allow sun to reach the tree
again.

Fran wrote:
English Ivy will grow and smother trees in east TN. My parent planted
it in thier backyard up against the woods where it was very shady.
When they passed, after 25 years, it was smothering the trees along
the edge of the woods.

I've only heard people from the west coastish areas having problems with
ivy. The say it smothers and kills trees. East coastish ivy seems to
do fine in almost full sun, for me anyway. Any that was in PA and now
in TN. We can get poison ivy that will smother and kill trees, but it's
pretty easy to walk around the trunk and cut all the poison ivy. No
need to remove it, soon it will be dead and allow sun to reach the tree
again.


Hmm. I have some my mom planted on a steep hill and she also made up
some nice big flower pots and the English Ivy found its way in a nearby
crack between the walk and the slab the house is on. The stuff she
planted on a hill could get out of control one day when I'm not looking,
should I kill it all while I can?

Tony wrote:
Fran wrote:
English Ivy will grow and smother trees in east TN. My parent
....
Hmm. I have some my mom planted on a steep hill and she also
made up
some nice big flower pots and the English Ivy found its way in
a
nearby crack between the walk and the slab the house is on.
The
stuff she planted on a hill could get out of control one day
when I'm
not looking, should I kill it all while I can?

is it growing on trees or the house?

if not, i'd leave it alone, killing it off
would mean possible soil erosion problems
on the hillside, weeds getting established,
etc.

if you want to try other plants there
clear an area and plant them and see
if they can manage the soil/location.
if they fight it out with the ivy and win
i'd say you're replacing one problem
with another. get my drift?

i.e. why fix what isn't broken unless
you have other goals for that area?


songbird

songbird wrote:
Tony wrote:
Fran wrote:
English Ivy will grow and smother trees in east TN. My parent
...
Hmm. I have some my mom planted on a steep hill and she also made up
some nice big flower pots and the English Ivy found its way in a
nearby crack between the walk and the slab the house is on. The
stuff she planted on a hill could get out of control one day when I'm
not looking, should I kill it all while I can?

is it growing on trees or the house?

if not, i'd leave it alone, killing it off
would mean possible soil erosion problems
on the hillside, weeds getting established,
etc.

if you want to try other plants there
clear an area and plant them and see
if they can manage the soil/location.
if they fight it out with the ivy and win
i'd say you're replacing one problem
with another. get my drift?

i.e. why fix what isn't broken unless
you have other goals for that area?


songbird

This takes a bit to explain but I'll try. The first owner of the house
didn't want to pay for any more excavation than necassary, so the
hill/mountian side came at an angle to within 3 feet of the rear of the
house. The 2nd owners had that bulldozed so there could be a flat area,
a lawn and whatnot behind the house. Two years after excavation hardly
a weed grew in the heavy clay. The new steeper hillside had big ruts
from getting washed out. The flat area for a lawn was still all clay. I
moved here and first worked on the steep slope that was getting washed
out, I kept taking rotting trees and branches from the woods and
throwing it on the clay hillside. What ever grew I let it stay. Over
the years I kept throwing more dead and rotting trees and branches on
it. 5 years later it's mostly green, but lots of weeds, but also many
pine and other trees. The pines are so numerous I let most of them
get 5' tall then cut them down if I don't want to keep them, I'm just
keeping a few pines there. I let them grow first to let their roots
hold the soil, and eventually rot and help amend the heavy clay soil.
The area is about 15 feet uphill and 70' wide. I've cut down close to
100 pines already from 3 to 6 feet tall, they grow like weeds. Actually
it is all mostly weeds, anything to hold the soil in place. In another
year or so I will start working around the better trees I want to stay
and things I planted like mountain laurel and some hardwood trees that
grew naturally. Well if you got this far, behind all this up on the
hill starts the woods. So if it got out of control there is could be a
problem becasue I only own so many feet back.

So after all that, I could start digging up English Ivy without doing
much damage to the hill. It's probably clay underneath so I could just
throw in some more dead rotting logs and it doesn't take long for
something natural to grow up right next to the rotting logs. For now
almost anything goes but soon I will begin to focus on a plan and get
selective about what I leave grow. It's way to big and steep for a tidy
garden, more like leave nature do it's job and try to keep cutting or
digging up what I don't want.

Tony wrote:
songbird wrote:
Tony wrote:
Fran wrote:
English Ivy will grow and smother trees in east TN. My
parent
...
Hmm. I have some my mom planted on a steep hill and she also
made
up some nice big flower pots and the English Ivy found its
way in a
nearby crack between the walk and the slab the house is on.
The
stuff she planted on a hill could get out of control one day
when
I'm not looking, should I kill it all while I can?

is it growing on trees or the house?

if not, i'd leave it alone, killing it off
would mean possible soil erosion problems
on the hillside, weeds getting established,
etc.

if you want to try other plants there
clear an area and plant them and see
if they can manage the soil/location.
if they fight it out with the ivy and win
i'd say you're replacing one problem
with another. get my drift?

i.e. why fix what isn't broken unless
you have other goals for that area?
....
This takes a bit to explain but I'll try. The first owner of
the
house didn't want to pay for any more excavation than
necassary, so
the hill/mountian side came at an angle to within 3 feet of the
rear
of the house. The 2nd owners had that bulldozed so there could
be a
flat area, a lawn and whatnot behind the house. Two years
after
excavation hardly a weed grew in the heavy clay. The new
steeper
hillside had big ruts from getting washed out. The flat area
for a
lawn was still all clay. I moved here and first worked on the
steep
slope that was getting washed out, I kept taking rotting trees
and
branches from the woods and throwing it on the clay hillside.
What
ever grew I let it stay. Over the years I kept throwing more
dead
and rotting trees and branches on it. 5 years later it's
mostly
green, but lots of weeds, but also many pine and other trees.

sounds pretty nice for what you started with.

which direction does it face and how
much rain do you get in mid summer?


The
pines are so numerous I let most of them get 5' tall then cut
them
down if I don't want to keep them, I'm just keeping a few pines
there. I let them grow first to let their roots hold the soil,
and
eventually rot and help amend the heavy clay soil. The area is
about
15 feet uphill and 70' wide. I've cut down close to 100 pines
already from 3 to 6 feet tall, they grow like weeds. Actually
it is
all mostly weeds, anything to hold the soil in place. In
another
year or so I will start working around the better trees I want
to
stay and things I planted like mountain laurel and some
hardwood
trees that grew naturally. Well if you got this far, behind
all this
up on the hill starts the woods. So if it got out of control
there
is could be a problem becasue I only own so many feet back.

*nods* the trouble i see coming is that
the pines tend to challenge almost anything
underneath them with the pine needles they
drop. even on a slope because you have
it somewhat under control.


So after all that, I could start digging up English Ivy without
doing
much damage to the hill. It's probably clay underneath so I
could
just throw in some more dead rotting logs and it doesn't take
long for
something natural to grow up right next to the rotting logs.
For now
almost anything goes but soon I will begin to focus on a plan
and get
selective about what I leave grow. It's way to big and steep
for a
tidy garden, more like leave nature do it's job and try to keep
cutting or digging up what I don't want.

oh, ok, so you don't have english ivy
growing there at present. gotcha.

i like the creeping phloxes, but i'm
not sure how they would do when clay
gets rock hard in the summer. it might
be fine on your slope because of the
organic matter already incorporated
which would hold moisture and cool
off the surface. i like that they don't
grow "up" things.


songbird