To the farmers among us

[gcp]

Gents, what's the fastest, easiest to grow, and hardiest grass one can plant on a long drive? I figure if gravel will be difficult to work in in my particular case, maybe grass can help prevent erosion from gully washers. Of course I have a lot of sand mixed into the soil but there’s gotta be some seed out there that will do the job. I live in north Alabama btw...

 

[firefighter9208]

Bermuda, but in the winter time when it goes dormant you may have a problem. My grandparents have a long drive that has two gravel tracks with grass between the tracks. Grandad has always hauled 78 stone and hand applied to the tracks with a shovel. He sprays any grass in the gravel tracks with Roundup. Looks good, but more labor.

Chris

 

[EddieWalker]

Usually your native grasses will work the best under most conditions. There are quite a few varieties of bermuda that do just about everything. Do a search for bermuda grass and read up on them to find which will work best for your soil. Some will grow incredibly fast and are for hay and pasture use. I like Sahara as it's very drought tolerant, but others stay green longer or have finer blades.

Bahia will grow just about anywhere and it's the first to turn green and the last to go dorment. Once established, it will hold the ground extremly well. Unfortuenatly, it has those long stalks that shoot up in less then a week and is kind of ugly. It's a good pasture grass with allot of protein, but doesn't hay very well because of those stalks and how quickly it looses it protein levels. It also grows in clumps and can be rough to mow.

You are probably too far east for Buffalo grass. Zoisa might work for you, but it's hard to get established and it is about the fastest grass to turn brown in the fall.

Your local extension should be able to do a soil analysis for you for free and tell you what will grow in it. They will also have all sorts of information on the various types of grass available. Just do a google search for Alabama agriculture extensions, or the University of Alabama and Agriculture. There should be some agency that handles this in your area. Here is the one that I use for my county, Texas Cooperative Extension, The Smith County Office

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[Z-Michigan]

I would have thought sudangrass would be an option - it's sometimes used here as a summer annual, mostly for just adding organic matter to the soil. It's supposed to grow super fast.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Gents, what's the fastest, easiest to grow, and hardiest grass one can plant on a long drive? I figure if gravel will be difficult to work in in my particular case, maybe grass can help prevent erosion from gully washers. Of course I have a lot of sand mixed into the soil but there’s gotta be some seed out there that will do the job. I live in north Alabama btw...

Here in Kentucky, I've had better luck with turf type fescues to hold soil on hillsides. Tougher'n a $2 steak, hardy in most soil, drought resistant, and it looks good. I used to use the old reliable Kentucky 31 Fescue but have made the transition to Falcon Fescue in recent years.

I'd call my county extention office for a more localized opinion.

 

[andrewj]

Gents, what's the fastest, easiest to grow, and hardiest grass one can plant on a long drive? I figure if gravel will be difficult to work in in my particular case, maybe grass can help prevent erosion from gully washers. Of course I have a lot of sand mixed into the soil but there’s gotta be some seed out there that will do the job. I live in north Alabama btw...

this is not "grass planting time" in general, but it is approaching time for the warm season grasses,like bermuda, centipede, zoisa. These will go dormant in winter. the other option is the cool season grasses like fescue, and it is NOT time to plant fescue - it is planted in september,overwinters, and is booming in april.

Best thing for you to do is to use the same grass the highway department uses. they put a lot of thought and money into figuring out how to avoid erosion.
fastest is ryegrass. also the easiest. But the roots don't put out a erosion preventing mat like other grasses do.

 

[gcp]

Eddie, yours was a wonderful suggestion. I located, and spoke to the local extension office. The guy in charge will get together with me, probably next weekend, so as he can survey my property and give me hands on recommendations of what vegetation will be most appropriate. He is also mailing written literature for me to read up on prior to our get together. I very much look forward to us developing a multi-year program of beautification and critter nourishment.

Andrew, it’s funny you should mention the grasses the highway department uses, that’s exactly what I had in mind to try and find, for a while now, since it always seems to remain thick, green, and helps prevent erosion. I’ll for sure address it with the extension officer on our get together. I am also a big fan of vines but that’s a multi year process.

Thanks to all for your wonderful suggestions, I’ll make a computer file and tap into the knowledge when necessary.

 

[Renze]

Over here in Holland, the toughest grass is quackgrass. At least, thats how my uncle from Canada called it when he was here a couple of years ago.
It has an underground interconnecting root system so it comes back quickly, and can stand drought better than anything. On dry soils quackgrass is a problem because it overtakes the more productive grasses during drought or extreme grazing. quackgrass seems to exist in nearly every continent.

 

[EddieWalker]

gcp,

Your welcome. It sounds like you have a pretty good extension there. Ours is the same way. They come out to the land, spend some time looking at it and the come up with a plan of what they know works based on tests that they take. It's a wonderful service, and the best part, is it's free!!!!

Keep us updated, I always like to hear what the experts recomend.

Eddie

 

[gcp]

Gang, I received the extension package sent to me and it's got some pretty info info in it. Great planting and wildlife suggestions for the area (North Alabama). As soon as I have some time I'll start the fertilization and planting process. So far I've planted peanuts and next weekend I'll probably plant a few rows of corn. In the mean time, does it help the ground if I continue to plow it so as to oxygenate it? I don't have a tiller but I do have a 3 point single plow I've been using for that purpose.

BTW, I planted clover a couple of years ago and it is now coming up so, I hope I don't mess it up by plowing.

Next project is going to be the repair of a bridge, either by replacing the existing wood planks (which is a short term solution) or by laying down some corrugated pipe and dirt on top of it. I'd like to make it more stable, and safe, for vehicles to go over it. I'll include pics of the existing run-off over the weekend for your inputs.