Biodiverse Polyculture (USDA 8a Zone Pasture) - sounds better than "My Acres of Weeds"

raingarden

Songster
Premium Feather Member
Apr 12, 2021
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Windward Oahu
Don't you guys have Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum or Megathyrsus maximus) there. An invasive species. They call it California Grass here and eveybody hates it because it covers everything. I suspect the counties spend more money cutting it away from roadways than fixing potholes. It almost impossible to over-graze and it does make a ton of tiny seed for the finches.
 

U_Stormcrow

Crossing the Road
Jun 7, 2020
7,698
26,473
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North FL Panhandle Region / Wiregrass
Don't you guys have Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum or Megathyrsus maximus) there. An invasive species. They call it California Grass here and eveybody hates it because it covers everything. I suspect the counties spend more money cutting it away from roadways than fixing potholes. It almost impossible to over-graze and it does make a ton of tiny seed for the finches.
I've heard of it, but not planted it.
 

Geena

Free Ranging
7 Years
Aug 17, 2014
1,169
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Maryland
Yes, that's what my phone app was saying as well. If true, I certainly would not complain. There are several similar plants, though that is the tallest, in that area of the pasture. I just don't recall ever eating cherries around there, and have no explanation as to how they might have otherwise appeared there

It does appear to be trying to fruit, so I guess we will know soon?
Were the blooms yellow? Looks like it might be a spice bush.
 

U_Stormcrow

Crossing the Road
Jun 7, 2020
7,698
26,473
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North FL Panhandle Region / Wiregrass
Supposedly, this is evening primrose or ramping. It does well on bare clay soils, but nothing seems to eat it...
View attachment 3047163
Update - the bunnies LOVE IT! Though the quantity offered needs to be restricted, apparently its a blood thinner. Protein content, for a plant, is decent, and it tends to be high in methionine though very low in lysine, with protein content diminishing as it ages. Also, it tends to concentrate calcium relative to phosphorus, which can be an issue.

Its good for breaking up clay soils, which is one of the primary reasons I allow it to persist.
 

U_Stormcrow

Crossing the Road
Jun 7, 2020
7,698
26,473
756
North FL Panhandle Region / Wiregrass
My wethered goat, Tan (age approx 6 1/2 months), snacking on goldenrod tops.

1653061040800.png

You can see how the dog fennel can overwhelm other plantings in the background. It has to be manually removed, easiset when the soil is just wet enough, but not too damp.

Foreground, middle and left, those funny looking leaves are from purple passionfruit vine
 

Florida Bullfrog

Crowing
Premium Feather Member
May 14, 2019
839
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North Florida
Just some musings on dog fennel:

It gets its name because homesteaders used the green fronds to line their dog kennels to keep fleas and ticks off the dogs. The natives used it on their camp fires to repels mosquitoes. My mother said she saw her grandmother boil the root and dig a dog in it with severe mange.

It is toxic to us if ingested, and its supposed to be toxic to birds. But all my poultry relishes eating it. Its so common for the birds to eat it that I was able to randomly step outside just now and take some pics of birds eating it. Here’s a chick having some:

FAD0C4D7-6A5C-40E7-A946-0F5CF2EB2092.jpeg


I regularly let it come up in my gardens to repel pests and provide shade and frost protection. My hens like to nest in it. Here’s a fence I let come up in dog fennel to shade my tomatoes a bit:
DEC02933-21E0-4789-B84B-07C4DFA6BF82.jpeg


I do not know if goats will try to eat it. Cows generally do not. It would be impossible to eliminate it where I am. Its too much a part of the landscape.
 

U_Stormcrow

Crossing the Road
Jun 7, 2020
7,698
26,473
756
North FL Panhandle Region / Wiregrass
I have now manually removed it from 4/5ths of my 2 acre pasture, except if some choice spots at the edge of the clays. It will be back next year. Last year, I took piles of the stuff and put it under the RV in hopes some of those bug reppellent properties would help. NO suggestion it was effective.

I've seen my chickens peck at it, but it usually looked like they were eating bugs off of it, rather than consuming it directly.

It is definitely good sun protection, helping to shade the ground with its rapid growth, to keep soil temps down.

TY for sharing your experiences with the stuff, @Florida Bullfrog
 

Florida Bullfrog

Crowing
Premium Feather Member
May 14, 2019
839
2,344
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North Florida
I have now manually removed it from 4/5ths of my 2 acre pasture, except if some choice spots at the edge of the clays. It will be back next year. Last year, I took piles of the stuff and put it under the RV in hopes some of those bug reppellent properties would help. NO suggestion it was effective.

I've seen my chickens peck at it, but it usually looked like they were eating bugs off of it, rather than consuming it directly.

It is definitely good sun protection, helping to shade the ground with its rapid growth, to keep soil temps down.

TY for sharing your experiences with the stuff, @Florida Bullfrog
I think if you study it closely you'll see dog fennel generally doesn't have any bugs on it except for a kind of orange fuzzy caterpillar, which I believe is the only insect that can eat it. I've also seen big grasshoppers light in it, especially when the fennel reaches its last stage of maturity where only the tops have leaves and the stem becomes more woody instead of soft.

What were you trying to repel, cockroaches or ants? I am only aware of it repelling the biting insects. Mosquitoes and ticks generally. It was never used by settlers in their homes to repel home pests to my knowledge. It was only used on dogs. It repelled biting insects off the dogs because the dogs actually wallowed in it and the oils coated the dogs'hair. Also it doesn't create a "bubble" of protection unless you're smoking it. Its only direct contact with fresh living fennel oils to the insects that repels them. Suppose I was going to sleep in the woods and I wanted to use dog fennel to keep ticks off me. I'd have to literally build a bed out of fresh dog fennel and sleep directly on it. And whether that would be good for me is a different question. I've used dog fennel oil to keep mosquitoes off of me while I hunted by rubbing crushed leaves directly on my skin but in hindsight that may have been a dangerous practice. The fact that the settlers never did that tells me there was good reason not to.
 

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