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These are supposed to be here correct? So I don't want to kill them, but keep them from creeping into the areas I've cleared.
Best non chemical suggestions? Are there other plants that they don't like, or is just hacking at them gonna work?
Dayna
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Dayna Robertson
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Don't worry about hacking, they'll be back like the terminator. Pull up the roots if you want them gone.
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Don't feel too bad about taking them out. They are native to Hawaii but found elsewhere in the pacific as well. They do a good job of keeping down weeds though. Don't bother trying to compost them. They don't rot, at least not in a time frame you want to wait around for.
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Wear sleaves and gloves and watch your eyes; including the one between your r.r.r.rear pants pockets.....trust me!
Big pile, smashed down...torch it.
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http://bigislandplants.com/catalog.html
consider planting a sustainable buffer/transition to your yard
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dont know your lot size. but uluhe in its natural state is the best at keeping weeds invasives out. once you whip it down you will forever have to whip that area. so plan it carefully while you have that natural weed protection around you. we really dont mind looking out at the surrounding forest, it sorta grows on you...that said, whipped uluhe is the best mulch money can buy...
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We love looking at the forest, I think I like the idea of a sustainable buffer to keep the ferns in and the weeds out.
Dayna
www.JasonAndBlue.com
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Dayna Robertson
At Home Hawaii
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Dayna.Robertson@gmail.com
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When I first got my land I had a small area with uluehe. I didn't know any better, and pulled it all out by the roots. It never grew back again. Now that I know better, and have gotten an appreciation of native vegetation in general and uluhe in particlular, I am sorry I did it - but of course I can't turn back the clock.
So my recommendation is to keep it if you can, where you can, and learn to appreciate it. If you cut it back and grind it up, it makes great mulch and will grow back and continue to provide you with that valuable gardener's resource.
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I've got three acres full of it.
I do like it a lot, also LOTS of Hapu'u ferns. LOTS. lol
Dayna
www.JasonAndBlue.com
My artwork
Dayna Robertson
At Home Hawaii
Real Estate Sales and Property Management
RS-85517
Dayna.JustListedInHawaii.com
Dayna.Robertson@gmail.com
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A few years ago, I wrote a research paper on Uluhe fern understory. The leaves do decompose fairly nicely, and leaf extracts do have fungal spore inhibition qualities, which have some benefit in the forest.
Their stems have a strong & resilient (read, they NEVER decompose….or so it seems, like little plastic sticks!) quality due to the lignan content, & decompose at less than ¼ the rate of most forest plants. It seems that their lack of efficient decomposing is one of their attributes in the Hawaiian forests as the stem tangle keeps much of the forest leaf organic matter up in the tangled crown, & the nutrients drip down the stem and into the ground as the tangled matter decomposes in air... not a fast soil building system, but faster nutrient transfer to the Uluhe
Past thread link:
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10458
