On 7/21/03 5:38 PM, "Chris Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > My advice would be to use an herbicide like Round-up (glycophosphate) on > the area first to kill everything. Use it when it will be dry for a > couple days so that it is all broken down chemically by sunlight and > soil action before rain washes it into the ecosystem. It may sound > environmentally unsound to use some sort of toxic chemical, but > glycophosphate is pretty much harmless once it has broken down. It'll > take a few weeks before everything looks completely dead, but I suspect > the plants will have taken up enough to kill themselves in a day, so you > can pretty much start planting new things in a couple days -- since you > will want to water them immediately and frequently until they recover > from the transplanting shock, but don't want to wash any herbicide into > the gutter. The idea is to give your transplants as much of a head > start on existing or new weeds or grass as possible. Glycophosphate > works real well on grass. It will be dead. Most other things, too, so > be careful that it doesn't get on anything but what you want dead.
I agree with most of what Chris said except here. I personally wouldn't want to use something like Round-up on a boulevard because if it does rain, it is gonna go straight into the storm sewers. Since meteorology in MN is largely a crapshoot, you can't count on the local weather report for much. I think a better approach would be to mow down the grass as short as possible, keep doing this for several weeks to burn it out, and then smother with lots of mulch (about 4" at least) over the winter if possible. Then you can spend some time thinking and researching about what you want, plant in spring and use the mulch around whatever you plant. I'd also recommend coming up to NE Minneapolis and checking out the boulevard gardens around here for ideas on what to plant. There are tons of them! Audubon Park, just north of me, seems to be a particularly rich treasure trove of boulevard gardens. Lastly, make sure to check the city boulevard planting ordinance so all your hard work doesn't go for naught at the hands of a nitpicky inspector. You can download a PDF copy from the "Blooming Boulevards" web page: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/citywork/planning/sections/cue/blooming.asp Mark Snyder Windom Park TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
