Alternative to lawn: where to find low nitrogen fixers?

[sunsamourai]

Hi everyone, 

 

Looking into planting a ground cover on a few hundred square meters near a house in a rural area. I want something less maintenance intensive than grass and preferably better for the soil, such as a Nitrogen fixer. I heard Agricultural departments sometimes have seeds of such plants they offer/sell at low price...

Has anyone tried something similar? How can I find my local department (is it tambon or other, how to spell in Thai?)

 

Thanks

[KarenBravo]

Only plant that I can think of that is a nitrogen fixer and maybe a good substitute would be clover, but, where would you get it?

[jak2002003]

12 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

Only plant that I can think of that is a nitrogen fixer and maybe a good substitute would be clover, but, where would you get it?

seems to arrive on its own... it did in my garden.. most of the lawn is clover and other weeds.

 

OP.. you can get a creeping plant that has small yellow flowers that look like buttercups, from the plant markets.  Its sold as a bedding / ornamental flowering ground cover plant.  It grows really fast and stays low.. only requiring strimming over if it gets too deep.

 

Sorry don't know the name.  There are 2 kinds from what I have seen.  One is darker green hairy leaves and bigger flowers.. this one grown really fast like a week.  The other is smaller with more yellow / green flat smooth leaves... and this one hugs the ground very closely.. but I found that one was slow to get established and I had a problem with weeds growing up through it... not so the other one.... nothing grows through it.. as its so dense. 

 

 

[jak2002003]

look like this...

 

 

[sunsamourai]

3 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

. it did in my garden.. most of the lawn is clover and other weeds.

 

Sorry don't know the name.  There are 2 kinds from what I have seen.  One is darker green hairy leaves and bigger flowers.. this one grown really fast like a week. 

-->Wedelia trilobata

 

The other is smaller with more yellow / green flat smooth leaves... and this one hugs the ground very closely.. but I found that one was slow to get established and I had a problem with weeds growing up through it... not so the other one.... nothing grows through it.. as its so dense.

 

--> Arachis pintoi = brazil peanut,  

Haha, I see you posted your pictures at the same time^^

Thanks a lot for the advice, I didn't think about it and it's a good choice. I'd still like to explore other options... The house is in Mae Sai, would you mind sharing some of your clover if you're near there? I could pay postage if you're far, I'd love to have a clover field! 
 

 

[CLW]

Contact the grass and forage expert on here, Michael Hare.

From my limited knowledge, I could suggest Centrosema or Stylosanthes.

But I'm sure he knows more

[weegee]

Think about snakes, if you intend to put it near your house....Once you plant those ground cover plants, you and others are discussing, it's very hard, if you ever want to be rid of them....snakes as well.  Snakes love that stuff, as it's a good camouflage for them, from the birds that prey on them.....

[kickstart]

CLW is corect ,Centrosema  and Stylosanthes  are legumes  ,Google them  to see if thay will do , you should be able to get seed from your local  DLD office , Department of Livestock development . กรมปษุสัตว์ .There  are offices in all Thai provinces ,  the main one  is ปษุสัตว์ จังหวัด, in your maine town ,but a lot of Aumpers  will have an office.

 

The odds of  they being any clover in the  lawn are  remote ,clover  is  a temperate  climate crop ,one  Thai hot season .or a wet rainey season  it will  die  for sure 

 The flower  you have  is ดอกดาวกระจาย  in  Thai , or Sulfur Cosmos ,or Yellow Cosmos . With thanks to her who knows most things that grow, my misses .

[sunsamourai]

I've now got everything I want: ground cover names including thai names and Legumes, and the Thai DLDs names!

 

About snakes: I'm not worried as the area is a bit further away from the house, and I like having them around: they do a great job with small animals and they're beautiful to look at. I'll be careful where I step

 

Thank you all for this precious feedback!

 

[JungleBiker]

11 hours ago, sunsamourai said:

I've now got everything I want: ground cover names including thai names and Legumes, and the Thai DLDs names!

 

 

That's good news but why not share with everyone? 

[grollies]

1 hour ago, JungleBiker said:

 

That's good news but why not share with everyone? 

See posts #5, 6 & 8.

[JungleBiker]

4 minutes ago, grollies said:

See posts #5, 6 & 8.

 

Sorry Grollies,  I don't wish to appear pedantic, but let's see:

 

Post #5 names Wedelia trilobata. I usually call it Singapore Daisy. (And by the way, it's not a legume or nitrogen fixer). It can be considered a noxious weed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphagneticola_trilobata And with all due respect to Kickstart's wife, Cosmos is something entirely different.

 

Also in Post #5 is Arachis pintoi. This is a legume/nitrogen fixer (well it is if there are rhizombium nodules on the roots which may not always be the case). I'm growing about 3 - 4 rai of this myself. There are different varieties. I have two of them and one of those I got from Michael Hare (mentioned earlier in this thread). Another species in the same genus is Arachis glabrata. I have some of that growing in a pot. I originally got some cuttings from the ag research station at Thaphra near Khon Kaen. 

 

Post #6 CLW suggests Centrosema or Stylosanthes.   

 

Post #8 Kickstart confirms Centrosema  and Stylosanthes  are legumes, doubts clover is growing around here and then mentions the Cosmos.

 

I understood that sunsamourai had obtained a longer list of ground covers and legumes with both English and Thai names. I and perhaps others would be interested in his (or her?) list. If it's a hassle to post, then no worries. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[grollies]

No problem, I just assumed @sunsamourai was referring to the info in the above posts.

 

From your post, looks like you could add more info to this topic.

 

 

 

 

[kickstart]

On 2017-6-1 at 0:31 PM, JungleBiker said:

 

Sorry Grollies,  I don't wish to appear pedantic, but let's see:

 

Post #5 names Wedelia trilobata. I usually call it Singapore Daisy. (And by the way, it's not a legume or nitrogen fixer). It can be considered a noxious weed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphagneticola_trilobata And with all due respect to Kickstart's wife, Cosmos is something entirely different.

 

Also in Post #5 is Arachis pintoi. This is a legume/nitrogen fixer (well it is if there are rhizombium nodules on the roots which may not always be the case). I'm growing about 3 - 4 rai of this myself. There are different varieties. I have two of them and one of those I got from Michael Hare (mentioned earlier in this thread). Another species in the same genus is Arachis glabrata. I have some of that growing in a pot. I originally got some cuttings from the ag research station at Thaphra near Khon Kaen. 

 

Post #6 CLW suggests Centrosema or Stylosanthes.   

 

Post #8 Kickstart confirms Centrosema  and Stylosanthes  are legumes, doubts clover is growing around here and then mentions the Cosmos.

 

I understood that sunsamourai had obtained a longer list of ground covers and legumes with both English and Thai names. I and perhaps others would be interested in his (or her?) list. If it's a hassle to post, then no worries. 

 

Hi JB

         I  bow  to your wisdom  ,and my misses is wrong ,can not be right all the time .

Re legumes Hamata is another legume that will grow here in Thailand,seed is available  again from the DLD  ,but Thai legumes tend to grow like grass ,some grow tall,so it will need cuting ,more so in the rainy season ,maintenance could be a problem . unlike clover which will grow like a mat .and not over tall

Again still say clover will not grow in Thailand ,if it did you could probaly  buy the seed ,but as far as I know you can not buy clover seed .a pity as i would love to have  some red or white clover growing in a grass sward  for the cattle .

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

[JungleBiker]

Hi Kickstart, 

 

I agree with you about the clover. I think jak2002003 (post #3) is mis-identifying a weed in his lawn.  

 

Hamata is one species of Stylosanthes (or stylo for short).  

 

For info on tropical forages I usually refer to the following resource... e.g. this is the page about hamata: http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Stylosanthes_hamata.htm

 

My understanding is that DLD (Department of Livestock Development) is a source of cheap seeds for forage and LDD (Land Development Department) is a source of seeds for crops that improve soil, such as sunn hemp (a while back they were giving away free seed, perhaps still are). 

 

Hi Grollies,

 

It's not clear to me what the OP's main priority/requirement is... low maintenance, soil improvement, aesthetics, low-growing vs. taller-growing, short-term vs. long-term, or what? I think a common lawn of "nuan noi" grass is already pretty low maintenance. Turf is available everywhere. Pretty quick to establish. Looks okay. Withstands drought. Just cut it less often if you want to further reduce maintenance!  

 

JB

 

 

 

 

 

 

[farmerjo]

Got a little bit of this growing wild at home,no idea of the name.

[Michael Hare]

On 06/06/2017 at 8:24 AM, farmerjo said:

Got a little bit of this growing wild at home,no idea of the name.

 

From looking at the photo I would say it was Desmodium triflorium.  It is very common throughout Thailand, particularly in areas that have heavy grazing or trampling. It often appears in lawns and "farangs" often refer to it as a "clover", which is not.

http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Desmodium_triflorum.htm

  

But then it also could be a Desmodium heterocarpon ssp. ovalifolium  which can look similar to D. triflorium  if it is also grazed heavily. 

http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Desmodium_heterocarpon_subsp._ovalifolium.htm

 

And to confuse matters even further, it may be also Desmodium heterocarpon spp heterocarpon which is very similar.

http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Desmodium_heterocarpon_subsp._heterocarpon.htm

 

However, I would put my money on it being D. triflorium. 

 

 

 

[grollies]

On 06/06/2017 at 8:24 AM, farmerjo said:

Got a little bit of this growing wild at home,no idea of the name.

Ditto and I was going to post the same photo today.