Please note: this page contains reviews and opinions sent in by Berkeley Parents Net subscribers. Your own experience may be different. Please always check references before hiring!

Oxalis is Taking Over!

Oxalis, the clover-like weed with yellow flowers, is taking over my garden. Does anyone have a clever way of gettign rid of it? I spent hours pulling it up last weekend, and I barely made a dent. I'll even consider hiring someone to get rid of it. Help! Overrun by Oxalis

It's a winter weed, only shows itself when the weather is wet & cool, so that's the only time of year you can do anything about it.

It grows from clusters of little bulblets, & spreads itself by making new bulbs & by reseeding. Getting all the bulbs out is impossible- too small, too profuse- but you are reducing the population by digging out some of them. Like all bulbs (think of daffodils), the bulbs are fed by the foliage, so even just chopping the tops off as soon as they appear helps to exhaust the roots. Not all the bulbs will sprout at the same time, so this must be a continuous project all season. Don't let it go to flower, attack it ASAP!

Alternatively, you can use Roundup on the foliage, which is carried to the bulblets & kills them. Any herbicide rightly makes some people nervous, but Roundup is generally considered safe by knowledgeable professionals (it has a very low toxicity to people and animals in the first place, breaks down on contact with the soil into non-toxic compounds, & has been around a long time). On general principal, I only use it on a couple of types of weeds, Bermuda Buttercup among them (also Bermuda Grass). You need to continue to spray it on the foliage as new plants appear.

Whatever method you use, you will not get rid of it in one season, & you'll never get entirely rid of it, especially if your neighbors have it too. Roundup does work the best if you really keep after it- it takes longer to exhaust the bulbs significantly by pulling/chopping.

I recommend holding off on any dense plantings like perennials & groundcovers in the infested areas until after you have got it under reasonable control. It is even more of a pain to try & get it when it is mixed in with plantings.

Feel free to call me for some free phone time, &/or an on-site consultation. 848-4178 Cecelia

Kill oxalis and put in a lawn?

Ecological lawn installation?

Our back yard is 80 percent weeds and we are considering having it torn up and replacing it with a sod lawn. Friends who did this recently said their landscaper applied Roundup to kill the weeds before putting in the new sod. We are concerned about the environmental effects of Roundup. How toxic do people think it really is (to soil, groundwater, etc.)? Is it possible to do a successful lawn without using herbicides? Can anyone recommend an environmentally- friendly landscaper/lawn installer? And has anyone had success putting in a new lawn (and even a sprinkler system) themselves, rather than hiring a contractor? Tired of dandelions and oxalis

The only way to elimnate oxalis is to dig it out. One option is to dig out as far down as you are willing to go/pay for (its costly) -- but at least 6 inches -- put in cardboard and fill in with new dirt. This will solve the problem for a while, not forever. Digging deeper helps.

Second, go with a native grass lawn. A great choice is Fescue Rubra - you can purchase seed or plugs from Rana Creek Habitat restoration in Carmel Valley. They are a wonderful resouce for native grasses. With this type of lawn you can mow if you want, wanter minimally and use minimal, organic fertilizers.

Good luck and even though Roundup has a reputation for ''not being so bad'', it is bad for our environment. And it won't do what you need. Good luck

The principal of Integrated Pest Management is use the least toxic approach first & use chemicals sparingly. It takes a few years to eradicate Oxalis by hand. Pull the plants as soon as they appear- over time you'll deplete the population. Trying to remove all the bulbs is hopeless! Laying sod rather than seeding will weaken some of the bulbs. There are a number of choices of native grasses for informal, meadow-like effect- none in sod. Bonsai Tall Fescue is a good (somewhat drought-tolerant) commercial grass. I'm a landscaper & horticulturist so know quite a bit about Round-up. Questions directly to me are welcome; please post disagreements in Digest

Oxalis - demon weed from hell

Oxalis - demon weed from hell

We have an ongoing oxalis infestation - y'know, those shamrock-like plants with yellow flowers. A landscaper friend recommended Vapam (a soil fumigant) but we don't like that idea because of enviromental concerns and danger to our kids and pets (see http://www.alternatives2toxics.org/vap.htm). I found some info on the spread of this pernicious pest from South Africa (I guess it takes one to know one ;- ) at http://www.cnps-yerbabuena.org/hab_sigg_oxalis.html but need some advice from someone who has successfully eradicated oxalis. So how do I get rid of it? --johnt

If you're thinking of using Roundup, make sure to use it on a windless portion of the day, when there is no dew (moisture can dilute it, rendering it useless) and if there are prize plants adjacent to the oxalis, drip or ''paint'' it directly on the oxalis (don't use the sprayer). Good luck!
Christine Schneider, RLA
Native Sage Landscape Design

Regarding Oxalis pes caprae (cernua); Good info from Mr. Sigg, whom I have met at California Exotic Plant Pest Council meetings at UC Botanical Garden, Berkeley. I have almost total control over this thug at my home after 2-3 years. I certainly can not support Monsanto (see Agent Orange, etc) but I must say that I HAD TO resort to ProRoundup to tackle Oxalis. Really, SPRAY and PULL and MULCH again and again if you wish to have anything resembling a landscaped yard that is under control. Organic controls would exclude the Roundup, and most have not had any long-term luck with those methods. You will have to concede with living with a certain level of infestation if you are not willing to use a glyphosate -based herbicide. Best of Luck... Anthony Garza, Supervisor of Horticulture & Grounds UCBG, Berkeley

Fruit & veggie varieties that grow well locally?

My daughter and I are starting a garden and we would like to grow some vegetables and fruits such as tomatos, lettuce, strawberries, onions, ect Can anyone name us a good tomato or strawberry that grows well locally (we live in El Sobrante) And where could I get them? The books I am working through have a lot of good suggestions but often it is hard to find the particular kind they recommend in our local stores. So if you have any good suggestions for fruits or vegetables, please share your experience with us. Thank you, Martina and Ebony.

In my garden I have some crab grass, weeds, and in one spot -- blackberries, all of which I want to turn either into flower & vegetable beds, a lawn, or ground cover. Does anyone have any non-toxic ideas for how to eradicate these menaces? Thank you. kiwiroot

We bought a house in the "Piedmont Pines" part of Montclair with a good-sized yard featuring trash, overgrown weeds, trees that need trimming, etc. A friend says landscaping types would clean this up surprisingly cheaply. Sounds good to me. Any recommendations? And is it possible to use Round-up - type chemicals (which are relatively environmentally friendly) when it is this dry? Mary Ann

"The Oregon-based Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) reviewed over 408 scientific studies on the effects of glyphosate [the active ingredient in Roundup], and of the polyoxyethylene amines used as a surfactant in Roundup, and concluded that the herbicide is far less benign than MonsantoFs advertising suggests tSymptoms of acute poisoning in humans following ingestion of Roundup include gastrointestinal pain, vomiting, swelling of the lungs, pneumonia, clouding of consciousness, and destruction of red blood cells... [see the Ecologist for continuation] Dashka

Plants full of ants

Does anyone know of any plants/bushes/trees that ants don't like, or that at least don't attract ants? I want to replant a small area that is right next to my house because the ants seem to LOVE a lime-type tree that is growing there now. Whatever I plant has to tolerate full sun and lots of clay in the soil. Thanks for any suggestions.