Additionally would like sometime soft to replicate grass.
phantomlimb420
Mulch, you could even run some drip line to some plants
_nevers_
I’d work in a good amount of compost, throw on some fall and winter cover crops, mulch it good, and keep it watered. That’ll help heal the soil a bit, and give you a better start next spring.
You could try some creeping thyme when the time comes. Pretty drought tolerant, soft, doesn’t mind being stepped on a little, smells good.
Good luck. Lived in the mountains near Boulder for a while and we amended the hell out of our yard and it was so difficult to get things to grow. We would be out there every day, foot by foot mixing in compost and run the soil through screens to remove rocks like gold miners. You have to go all native from my experience, like prairie grass and native wild flowers.
unfortunately all native stuff grows really slow. We gave up on certain areas and just covered the rocks with more rocks.
Edit. Creeping thyme actually worked pretty well from what I remember after reading someone else’s suggestion in this thread. Sedum as well. I actually picked my Reddit handle “Rocksandsedum” from being obsessed with trying to get stuff to grow in our yard at the time, and rocks and sedums were all I ended up using in the end.
Constant_Wear_8919
Blue grama?
Ubockinme
That dirt is totally inert. I’d amend it pretty hard core, 3-6 inches of mulch and go for xeriscape plants. You have a way to water?
TrainXing
Is this a driveway or walkway? In which case it is going to be continually compacted and everything will die. What are you trying to do with the space? If it isn’t meant to be a lawn, then why try to make it soft like a lawn? Go Mini-meadow and make it a pollinator and humming bird haven.
Whatever you do, you will need an extremely thick layer of compost and manure tilled in (shovel by hand, a tiller will not do well until you get the rocks out) and wood chips. Flood it to soften it up before you dig/till, or you’ll get nowhere. Add a solid 3-4 inches of compost/manure. I’d say get a layer of compost and even hot manure mixed in, then get a chip drop for free from a tree company and cover all the compost with at least 4-6 inches of chips and let it sit for a year if not two. After all that, your best bet is actual native plants, larkspur, hollyhocks, coreopsis, black eyed susans, gaillardia, Indian Paint Brush, clover (red, sweet pink, white), daisies, cornflowers, columbines. Buffalo grass or the like if you want to mix in a grass. The daisies and cornflowers can take over a bit and can be invasive, but it looks dry and rocky enough that I doubt much is going to grow without some help. If all else fails try some cat mint and lemon balm.
That soil is about dead now, you need to give it some life first and plan this over a period of 3 yrs at least (unless you are going to just buy several inches of soil and pros to till it in, but that’s going to be $$$).
Year 1 and 2 remediate, yr 3 start planting some natives and let the seeds fall to hopefully re-sow. Chop and drop it all in the fall and cover it with another inch of wood chips at the end of yr 3. Year 4 you might have something decent to work with.
TsuDhoNimh2
Buffalo grass, blue grama grass, and yarrow for the base.
9 Comments
Additionally would like sometime soft to replicate grass.
Mulch, you could even run some drip line to some plants
I’d work in a good amount of compost, throw on some fall and winter cover crops, mulch it good, and keep it watered. That’ll help heal the soil a bit, and give you a better start next spring.
You could try some creeping thyme when the time comes. Pretty drought tolerant, soft, doesn’t mind being stepped on a little, smells good.
https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/xeriscaping-ground-cover-plants-7-230/
Good luck. Lived in the mountains near Boulder for a while and we amended the hell out of our yard and it was so difficult to get things to grow. We would be out there every day, foot by foot mixing in compost and run the soil through screens to remove rocks like gold miners. You have to go all native from my experience, like prairie grass and native wild flowers.
unfortunately all native stuff grows really slow. We gave up on certain areas and just covered the rocks with more rocks.
Edit. Creeping thyme actually worked pretty well from what I remember after reading someone else’s suggestion in this thread. Sedum as well. I actually picked my Reddit handle “Rocksandsedum” from being obsessed with trying to get stuff to grow in our yard at the time, and rocks and sedums were all I ended up using in the end.
Blue grama?
That dirt is totally inert. I’d amend it pretty hard core, 3-6 inches of mulch and go for xeriscape plants. You have a way to water?
Is this a driveway or walkway? In which case it is going to be continually compacted and everything will die. What are you trying to do with the space? If it isn’t meant to be a lawn, then why try to make it soft like a lawn? Go Mini-meadow and make it a pollinator and humming bird haven.
Whatever you do, you will need an extremely thick layer of compost and manure tilled in (shovel by hand, a tiller will not do well until you get the rocks out) and wood chips. Flood it to soften it up before you dig/till, or you’ll get nowhere. Add a solid 3-4 inches of compost/manure. I’d say get a layer of compost and even hot manure mixed in, then get a chip drop for free from a tree company and cover all the compost with at least 4-6 inches of chips and let it sit for a year if not two. After all that, your best bet is actual native plants, larkspur, hollyhocks, coreopsis, black eyed susans, gaillardia, Indian Paint Brush, clover (red, sweet pink, white), daisies, cornflowers, columbines. Buffalo grass or the like if you want to mix in a grass. The daisies and cornflowers can take over a bit and can be invasive, but it looks dry and rocky enough that I doubt much is going to grow without some help. If all else fails try some cat mint and lemon balm.
That soil is about dead now, you need to give it some life first and plan this over a period of 3 yrs at least (unless you are going to just buy several inches of soil and pros to till it in, but that’s going to be $$$).
Year 1 and 2 remediate, yr 3 start planting some natives and let the seeds fall to hopefully re-sow. Chop and drop it all in the fall and cover it with another inch of wood chips at the end of yr 3. Year 4 you might have something decent to work with.
Buffalo grass, blue grama grass, and yarrow for the base.
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[https://westernnativeseed.com/xlawn.html](https://westernnativeseed.com/xlawn.html)