Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Ground Cover on Dam

Has anyone had luck (good or bad) using Crown Vetch on their Dam and backside of Dam to control weeds and reduce erosion?

If you have used it with success, what was your plant spacing, preparation, and lessons learned?

I'm getting tired of controlling weeds, mowing, etc. Thanks MUCH in advance!

I would imagine that would work just as good as clover, wheat, rye, Bermuda grass, etc.

I know that crown vetch is considered an invasive species in some areas. Yet, I've had a hard time getting it established. It certainly hasn't become invasive.

I have crown vetch growing on the steep sides of certain parts of my half-mile driveway. Where it grows, I really like it. Yet, I've had very little luck transplanting it.

I have a few very small areas on the back side of the dam of my older pond with some crown vetch. I moved it from the driveway several years ago with a front-end loader, with about 3-4 inches of roots/dirt under the plants. I also have another small patch on that same dam that I moved a year later with a backhoe -- taking at least 12 inch deep roots with it. Neither is spreading very fast.

When we built our new pond last spring, I paid big bucks for coated crown vetch seed (something like $70 for a quarter or half-pound). Almost none germinated.

If you can get it to grow, it does a great job of erosion control. At the edges of my driveway, grading and mowing seems to keep it well under control.

This coming year I'm going to try alternating transplants of periwinkle (vinca) and pachysandra to the backs of my dams. Hopefully, one will take over. They too make great erosion control green plantings.

Poison ivy is what unfortunately seems to grows the best. Oh well, maybe it will keep trespassers out of the ponds.

Thanks much!

jludwig - wouldn't your choices require replanting each year?
- Perhaps not the clover.
- What about rye & bluegrass - annually replant?

catmandoo - your advice is encouraging. I think a limited test area this Spring will consist of crown vetch, pach, and maybe some peri. I'm gonna try to keep the PI out as well as I can - it always seems to find me first though!

Greatly appreciate it!!

Just another thought regarding grasses as mentioned above. If you need quick.ground cover, most farm supply stores carry "contractors mix.". It includes a variety of grasses, including annual rye grass and a few fescues. It will sprout in just a few days if you can cover it with straw and keep it damp. Long term it is ok, but as starter it is great.

Our plan is to plant wheat in the fall so we have some erosion protection in the fall and winter. As soon as it warms up, plant Bermuda grass seed. Use a pump and water from the pond to establish it.

Last year during the drought I had limited success, but tried a prairie grass mix for long term and annual rye for quick germination. Part of the praire grass mix has big blue stem, little blue stem, canadian rye, but the blue stem grasses has root systems that extend many feet down to help with periods of drought. I wish I had put some
straw blankets down on the outer walls of the dams over the seed. Where I put the straw blankets down in the "finished" area of the yard, I had much better success.
This year I purchased a fescue and more annual rye, because late last fall I had an area redone and need to get some root systems in there.
I wish that I had found Pond Boss before I started my pond last spring, but hindsight is 20/20..........