Baby Tears Lawn?

Hi All -
Has anyone ever grown a baby tears lawn? We had dichondra but the bird clover took over so we use Roundup and now we're starting from scratch. We see that Baby Tears grows pretty well and wondered how it would be as a lawn? Would the bird clover have a harder time of seeding in Baby Tears since I understand that baby tears forms a dense mat of roots?

Thanks,
Nancy

Hi happy_girl~
I have a small section of dichondra growing in my gh. Hard to estimate the square footage due to raised planters and the bananas I've got growing back there.
I also have problems with a third type of weed growing in between the dichondra. I am trying to eradicate it since it's such a small area by yanking it, and taking off flowers. I didn't think I 'd get weeds due the the dichondra's deep mat of roots. Weeds don't seem to care, though. : - (
As long as your lawn is damp/shady enough, I'd give it a try, but I like living on the edge.
How big an area are you talking about for a lawn? I usually see Baby's Tears used as an accent or border. If you decide to try it, please post back your results here. I'd be curious to know how they fare in your zone. : -)
Sorry, that I don't have any answers for you. You might try the Cottage Gardening Forum, as many members who have more experience in your zone, and with Baby's Tears, are most likely to post there. Tell them I said, "Hi". They are really nice folks who don't mind sharing what they know. : - )
Hopefully someone close to you will check in and know the answer.
Walk In Beauty,
SingingWolf

Nancy: Are you wanting to use this "lawn" as something to walk on ?
If so, Baby Tears won't take regular foot traffic.

JD,
I was wondering where you were. I was hoping you'd chime in. He's the man, when you have questions about your zone!
I'm glad to see ya JD, you've been missed. : - )
I did have a friend who used it as an accent in her shade garden, but it was mostly paved, and the Baby's Tears were in between the stepping stones, and along their edges.
I still like my dichondra, but my whole lawn isn't planted in the stuff. My part of the lawn is covered with wood chips/mulch. Keeps down on intrusive poplars and weeds. Poplars are going as soon as I can get other trees in place.
DH still has a lawn on his side of the yard, and I continue to sneeze. ATCHOO! (excuse me!) LOL!
WIB~
SW

The majority of my front lawn is dichondra. It was clover nd i over seeded with dichondra. Over a period of time, with help from me the clover is being eliminated. I now have Australian violets moving in on one edge. I think I will let it go because it is evergreen and grows low.

I use Baby Tears in baskets and as a fill in for shaded areas but as soon as it gets to the sun, it stops moving. But of course, we are a little hotter here than yourself.

I do not understand what Bird Clover is. I started with white clover with just a little dichondra and the dichondra just took over and actually forced out the clover. And the dichondra loves the heat.

I've had the same experience with Baby Tears here. It performs great in the shade but practically appears to crawl away from the sunlight.

Woolly Thyme is my new favorite ground cover. I have it tucked between rocks and bricks for the first time this year. I thought it would be interesting as a lawn alternative. It has a nice fragrance and the loveliest, tiniest lavender flowers. It spreads quickly. I'm not too sure how it would be under constant foot traffic.

We have baby tears in odd, shady corners and it does well in the sun in this area (where the fog is dripping down right now) as long as it is well established.

Garden_Gal10,
How does te Woolly Thyme do in the heat? Does it like sunlight, I mean strong, unrelenting sunlight? How about dappled shade? I've been looking for alternative to regular grass lawns. I have grass allergies, and DH insist on having his lawn. I've got my side of the yard covered in mulch, his side is grass lawn, but I still have to put down some kind of ground cover in around the cabin next to us (DH's G.pa homesteaded here.).
Thanks for any info you can provide.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

I've also been using wooly thyme between stepping stones in my yard and it grows really well by itself, especially after it has been established. I grow it in both full sun and part sun and it is doing well in both. My only complaint is that it tends to grow over stepping stones instead of just around them so I have to periodically get out there and cut it back or it would completely cover the stones.

It does seem to stand up well under light foot traffic. I don't think I'd expect it to hold up under a game of backyard tackle football though.

Thanks GardenSox. It'll probably grow here then and might solve the groundcover problem I have. It's really dappled shade, and I am going to turn it into a cottage garden so I really appreciate your experiences.
BTW, I'm still yanking out those bad weeds that invaded my Dichondra, and the Dichondra is starting to choke them out in places. Still have to catch them before they flower, and they seem to send runners too. Pain in my knees for sure.
WIB!
SW

I thought I'd post a few pictures here. This first one is the baby tears around stepping stones. I really like the way this looks but wish that it would tolerate the sun so I could use it everywhere.

And here's a picture of some of my woolly thyme earlier this year - this was planted less than a year ago and it's really taken off since this picture was taken.

Gardensox - I wish I had known you had extra wholly thyme that you have to periodically get rid of. I am not sure if you noticed my front yard when you got the ginger, but I am getting rid of the lawn and am looking for groundcover to put in its place. My son told me you got the ginger - I am glad it has a home. Sometimes I end up throwing the excess away. I will be in Rochester until the end of next week - I gave my son some basic watering instructions so I hope everything is alive when I get home.

Hey soilsandup, I'll remember you next time I'm out there digging up excess thyme and check in with you to see if you still need some.

And thank you for the ginger! I think it'll fit right into my planting scheme.

Great photos of your yard GardenSox. I like your stepping stones, and I can see that I'm falling in love with woolly thyme. Now I just got to find some down here. : - )
Thanks for the photos, happy to see it growing in Sacramento, where it gets just as hot as it does here, only you have more water. That's what drip irrigation was created for, I guess! LOL!
WIB!
SW

This is two pony paks of wooly thyme. ( I need to rake my paths!) I'm really happy with how it does in part shade. I have to hand water one little spot out of range of the drip. It doesn;t grow where I walk, but fills in around the stones. A lawn of wooly thyme might need stepping stones through the 'paths of desire'. It would be lovely, though.

I have seen a lawn of yarrow that was quite unusual and ferny to walk on.

Sue

Sue,
Wow! What a nice landscape design. : - )
It appears to be on a slope? If the wooly thyme ever threatens to take over your stepping stones you can always trim it back.
Looks like it would be happy in the yard in front of the cabin. Looks like I need to bring in at least a couple of inches of dirt to cover the roots of the Honey Locust that were exposed during the flood we had last January. I'm going for a cottage gardening type theme, and the wooly thyme, will fit in just fine.
Thanks for sharing your photo. Inspiring! : - )
WIB!
SW

Thanks, Singing Wolf! It's not quite on a slope but the steps do terrace down. Five years ago, when we had our septic system put in, I was the crazy woman who dodged the bulldozers, grabbing nice big rocks as they were dug up. I knew I would want them for something. :-D

The whole property is on about a 15 degree slope, so I watch for tips on dealing with it.

This thyme, 3 yrs old, is mixing together with some ajuga that's creeping out of the beds along with a tiny white flowering succulent. I love how they're combining.

The thyme would look great in front of your cabin; even if you had to start out gradually, it does spread so nice.

What is WIB? :-)

Sue

I am going to give it a try. I plan on mixing in some bird friendly plants too. Especially for the hummers. : - )
Your terrace is a great idea for your slope. : - )

Sue,
I am part Cherokee and part Kickapoo Native American Indian (NAI), I am active in the So. CA NAI community. I borrowed this poem from my Navajo (Dinee') friends. To me it is both a blessing and a reminder.

Navajo Prayer

In beauty may we dwell.
In beauty may we walk.
In beauty may our male kindred dwell.
In beauty may our female kindred dwell.
In beauty may it rain on us.
In beauty may our corn grow.
In beauty all around us may it rain.
In beauty may we walk.
The beauty is restored.

Hozho
(Hozho, means all that is good, favorable, desirable, beautiful, pleasant, peaceful and harmonious; it also refers to those qualities and conditions in which they exist, and our desire to attain that state .)

Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

SW, beautiful poem... and what a rich heritage you have.

Actually our property is all on a slope so I've had to make steps in places, just so I don't find myself running downhill. One time, when I was talking to my daughter on the cordless, I crouched down to do some weeding, lost my balance and rolled downhill, dropping the phone.

Lost my center of balance, I guess. Luckily when I crawled back up and got the phone, my daughter was still talking.

Lucky for you, no one caught it on their phone video camera or we'd be seeing you tumble down that slope on youtube. LOL! I've done worse, (on the other hand I don't get sea sick), but I have to admit the worst one was when I fell into our turtle/fish pond. I panicked.
Now DH and I dug out the pond. I know it's only 3 1/2 feet in the very center. It just upset me that I was all cold, wet, and slimey. Ugghh. I was madder than a wet hen, and probably looked like one too! LOL!
I believe I stomped directly into the shower and stripped down in there.
I do love what you are doing with your yard. : - )
Keep us posted!
WIB,
SW

SW,
You falling into the turtle pond beats me! LOL! I can just see you, stomping in! Not really....and yes, my kids would of totally put it no YouTube.

I'm doing a 3-part article on Fall Planting this month. Part three is for planting on slopes. Here's the link for Part 2.

http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-fresno/fall-planting-part-2-no-till-gardening

I'd like to spread the word to those in my area, situation or Zone 7! Now, out to the garden!

Sue
Madera County Gardening Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-fresno/sue-langley
Blog: Sierra Foothills Garden
http://sierrafoothillgarden.wordpress.com/

Good article. I do not til my soil and I use mulch by the truck load. I also compost in spots that are available. If there is an empty spot, in goes some scraps. It helps with use of less water and now my soil is dark and looks better.

About mulch: One time, DH stopped and asked the tree trimmers on our road if they would dump their load at the top of our street. They did, actually coming down our driveway, the truck getting larger and larger as they came. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the mulch pour out. It could have covered a mini van! I wish now we had taken a photo of that mulch mountain, but you know we had it spread out in one day!

When we bought this property I was first against getting a tractor, so expensive, but now I'm sold on it. We're just kids from suburbia, so tractors were out of my scope, but DH found a used one and has been very willing to do whatever I need with it. This load was used on the paths because it has some poison oak in it.

Up here at the nearby lake community, there is a friend who gives me pine needles a couple times a year. They have to keep them off their roofs by law. These are for the sloping planting beds, anywhere I don't have to walk...they're slippery!

It's good to have connections when you have an addiction.

Anyone have a dump truck? I am fortunate to own my own chipper, but I also get chipped wood from the guy who sells the firewood on our place. He even helps us when we have to get rid of diseased trees (Pine Pitch Beetle). I am a full believing in mulching, and want to go to a no till method of gardening. Have problems getting certain people to understand that whenever they remove all those dead leaves, etc. they are depriving the soil of needed nutrients. Got to do what you have to for the fire breaks, but around the house and in my gardens, it's all going to mulch. DH has to buy some new bales of straw so I'll get the old ones to add to my garden! : - )
I'll be talking to a neighbor when we get home about collecting used straw from her horse stalls.
It's also time to clean out the chicken pen. (Evil Chuckle!) I know just the kid to do the work too!
Sue, you asked about lions tail, and I will see if they set seed. I rec'd a cutting, and don't know how to propagate them.
Let me do some checking.
Like the articles, keep writing! : - )
WIB!
SW

Thanks everyone for the info on lawns. We're still going back and forth on what to put down. Right now we've taken out rusted ironwork (didn't last long at all - probably cheap iron) and we have a small brick foundation wall going in. DH took out all the plants (except our butterfly bushes) and put them in pots so that they wouldn't get trampled on...that was Saturday. On Monday I got home and saw that they were all wilting terribly from the heat wave. Gave them all a good soak and I'll work from home today to keep an eye on them.

DH is going to move the border edging in (less lawn and more room for plants ;-) so I've still got some time to figure out what kind of small lawn we want. We have two trees in the front of this small lawn...Michelia Champaca and a Cassia Leptophylla.

We also had ground cover between our flagstone but the weeds got in there too. I think we're going to use very small smooth pebbles around the stonework to eliminate as much "BS" (bending and stooping ;-) as possible!

Thanks!
Nancy

Nancy- Wow, you have a nice big project going. Have you ever thought about using California fescue? It's a native and perfect for Cali,...pretty carefree. It's not a bit like clover or baby tears, though. Here's is Sunset's take on it.

http://www.sunset.com/garden/earth-friendly/lawn-alternatives-less-water-00400000021209/

SW- That's great that you, too, have a conestion. I'm such a believer. You know after four years of mulching my beds I was SO happy not to have to weed much this last Spring. I really saw a difference! No-till goes along with that..really happy when I see worms and that mychorriza stuff when digging a planting hole.

Glad to hear back from you Happy_Girl. I was wondering if we were going to hear back. Still hoping for photos too!
Well, it makes sense to me, Sue. The no till method. I've got a lot of neighbors who won't mind donating their dirty straw. I am going to fight for busted bales of straw and the older, musty smelling bales to go into my garden instead of my Pumpkin Patch. (Where we sell them.)
Can't wait to see how it all works out.
Got to go!
WIB,
SW

Hi All!
Been busier than a bee lately with work and medical stuff. Front yard is still bare but the brick foundation wall is in and we have a new little brick patio that's in...waiting to save up for a french door that will be placed where the current large window is downstairs so we can walk right outside.

DH broke his wrist trying to move a ton of bricks from the driveway (the only place the delivery company could use to set them down) into the front yard area for the workers to use. He was trying to protect his bionic hips (implants on both sides) and came down on his hand which broke the wrist. We have a bit of a wait now until things can move along in the front. I have all the plants in pots (and some new ones I bought!) so when we're ready, we can begin planting and putting the wood/bamboo fence together as well. Uff da!

In the meantime, I'm still hoping for some more sunny days but I know the plants enjoy the rain.

Take care,
Nancy

Nancy, sorry to hear about your DH's fall. Glad he protected his bionic joints, and love the way you refer to them. : - )
I am limited in how much I can lift. I love wagons. Wheel barrows are too unstable. I moved all the bricks in my wagon from the car, a couple at a time. Took a while, but I didn't have much else to do. : - )
Hopefully you can get some help?
I think while I was on vacation that I had a caterpillar invasion. The weeds look great and my dichondra is stems and roots, in one area. It'll make it easier to remove them weeds. : - )
There will be sunny days for all of Nancy. : - )
WIB!
SW

Happy New Year!

I think we're going to switch from the dichondra (that was infiltrated with clover weed) to marathon II grass. Have to wait a bit because.... yep - DH had to have carpal tunnel Gyon's release surgery on 12/23. For pete's sake. Both of us seem to be getting all of our medical stuff out of the way before we get much older ;-) In any event, the lawn is no more - mostly brown dirt with dying patches of weeds. I've got most of the plants in pots except for the dear butterfly bushes that flourish in our yard even during winter.

DH will be starting physical therapy at 0900 tomorrow but the rest of the day will be NON MEDICAL related ;-) We'll be heading to an outside spa on the ocean. AHHHHH JOY!!

~Nancy

Hope you enjoyed your spa day at the beach, Nancy. Let us know how that marathon II grass grows for you. I am pretty sure my dichondra was infiltrated by clover weed, and am anticipating having a weed pulling day, then reseeding the dichondra as necessary,
WIB!
SW

I'm on the desert edge of L.A. County. Mom grew Baby Tears on this property since the 1950's. Half the year, it's half the lawn (the north half), then it disappears in summer, comes back in the spring. All is shaded by big trees and Mom didn't care how much water costs. (Hint: Maidenhair Fern grows thick in the same spot. This just ain't natural.)

Baby Tears make a great edge, a better filler between pavers, but it takes more water than I can afford. It does reseed (yes, not really a moss) and comes back whenever the weather is cool and moist, but I'd hate to try to coax it into serving as a lawn.

I thought dichondra died out when DDT became illegal. I loved it as a kid, but have been told it takes too much water and is preyed upon by some teeny critter than requires major pesticides. Did they invent a new dichondra?

In spring, the lawn is covered with Anemone coronaria, absolutely lovely. Tiny tubers remain underground, plus it reseeds (AKA Windflower for a good reason). I keep the major weeds under control and let the lawn be what it chooses (since it will anyway).

As always, the garden has a mind of its own.

Nice "lawn" of Anemones. It is odd that my windflowers have never reseeded - I get the same 2-3 plants coming back every year - not more, not less, for the past 5 years.

This is Baby Tears underneath two palms in a raised bed next to garage in front landscape. Makes great ground cover. This area did not get burnt in the freeze. Any baby tears out in the open is black but it will return.

Finally getting back in the swing of things for spring. DH has graded the dirt in the areas where we had flagstone. He's just about finished replacing the flagstone and now we want to put baby tears between everything. We have very thick areas of baby tears near the front door and along the driveway. Is there a good way to harvest the stuff so we can spread the wealth to the front?

Thank you!
Nancy

I dig mine up by the shovel full. I then put down potting mix and it fills in again., It does not like direct sun, especially Las Vegas sun. But just do your own thing, and you will find out where it like to grow. I had some in front of my rose bushes by the sidewalk. I threw some potting mix to cover the area behind the roses. Today I noticed, it is covering the area behind the roses.

i just transferred a whole bunch in an area under a African Sumac and we will see how it goes.

Made me very happy because it keeps the soil cool. I never planted it. It came in on some plant purchased at a nursery. Good luck. Sharon, Las Vegas