hi:

I am thinking of setting up a wildflower garden in my backyard using black
eyed susan and purple coneflower. I plan on starting small and maybe work
may way up to 1/4 or 1/2 of an acre. My concern is that they will end up
propogating onto my neighbors lawn or onto parts of my backyard that i want
to stay as a lawn. Will i have trouble stoping these aggressive wildflowers
from propogating or will mowing be enough to control them?

thanks

From: (Steve Johnston)
Date: Wed, Jun 4, 2003 12:39 PM
Message-id:

hi:

I am thinking of setting up a wildflower garden in my backyard using black
eyed susan and purple coneflower. I plan on starting small and maybe work
may way up to 1/4 or 1/2 of an acre. My concern is that they will end
up
propogating onto my neighbors lawn or onto parts of my backyard that i
want
to stay as a lawn. Will i have trouble stoping these aggressive wildflowers
from propogating or will mowing be enough to control them?

thanks


If you're talking about Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower) and Rudbeckia
fulgida (perennial black-eyed susan), you're probably fairly safe......but it
depends on what the border is like between you and your neighbor. Both plants
self-seed readily (as well as increase from their roots) but have heavy seeds
that don't seem to set up new quarters too far from the parents. And yes,
mowing will help. However, if your neighbor's lawn begins a couple feet or
less away from where you're planting, you may have to rethink planting any
spreaders at all. If you're going to end up with half an acre of these plants,
I can't imagine that they're not going to end up outside your property,
particularly since both species are beloved by wildlife.

Considering how gorgeous it will look, though, is anyone going to go nuts about
a few seedlings?

Best,
Tyra
nNJ usa z6b

"Steve Johnston" wrote in message
om...
hi:

I am thinking of setting up a wildflower garden in my backyard using black
eyed susan and purple coneflower. I plan on starting small and maybe work
may way up to 1/4 or 1/2 of an acre. My concern is that they will end up
propogating onto my neighbors lawn or onto parts of my backyard that i
want
to stay as a lawn. Will i have trouble stoping these aggressive
wildflowers
from propogating or will mowing be enough to control them?

I don't have problems with either of these plants invading my lawn. They do
seed themselves into distant planting beds. One thing you could do would be
to apply a pre emergent herbicide in the spring and fall. That should
prevent them from germinating in the lawn. I doubt that it would be a
problem with the neighbor's lawn if his grass is in good shape. A healthy
lawn crowds out weeds.

Steve Johnston wrote:
hi:

I am thinking of setting up a wildflower garden in my backyard using black
eyed susan and purple coneflower. I plan on starting small and maybe work
may way up to 1/4 or 1/2 of an acre. My concern is that they will end up
propogating onto my neighbors lawn or onto parts of my backyard that i want
to stay as a lawn. Will i have trouble stoping these aggressive wildflowers
from propogating or will mowing be enough to control them?

thanks

Steve,

I grow lots of black eye susans and they do tend to re-seed
themselves in the lawn and a lot of other places you don't
want them. What I do early in the spring is either pull up
or transplant the ones that pop up in places that I don't
want them. I never tried just mowing them down because they
are a fairly tough plant and would likely keep growing. As
they get older they get more "woody" and I like a nice
"barefoot" lawn so I never just leave them grow there.

One thing about growing black eye susans is that (if you
want) you will have LOTS of them to give away to your
friends and neighbors. A couple of weeks ago I gave one of
my neighbors several dozen of them to plant on a hillside.
--
Bill R.

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"Bill R" wrote in message
...
Steve Johnston wrote:

One thing about growing black eye susans is that (if you
want) you will have LOTS of them to give away to your
friends and neighbors. A couple of weeks ago I gave one of
my neighbors several dozen of them to plant on a hillside.

I can't give them away. All my neighbors run when they see me digging them
out in the spring! The ones that I have started with a clump someone gave
me. It kills me to see people buying them at garden centers. I just want
to tell them to stop over and I will give them some.