I dug up the horseradish

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Thank you all for the comments.

 

[britesea]

Britesea, do you have to bring it in for winter or will it not freeze above ground? I wonder if you could line the big planter with landscape fabric to keep it in there. I would expect it would rot, planted in the ground, without drainage of some sort.

@journey11 , The top freezes, but it comes back every year. I don't think landscape fabric would work for more than a few years before it degraded. The pot I have it in is a 5 gallon bucket with several small drainage holes. That sits on a dinner plate to keep a little bit of water so it doesn't all run off. Then the whole thing sits on a concrete paver. This is how I handle all my "invasives" like horseradish, mint, and jerusalem artichokes. So far, it's working pretty well, although I haven't harvested my horseradish yet this year so it's a little crowded in that pot.

 

[journey11]

@journey11 , The top freezes, but it comes back every year. I don't think landscape fabric would work for more than a few years before it degraded. The pot I have it in is a 5 gallon bucket with several small drainage holes. That sits on a dinner plate to keep a little bit of water so it doesn't all run off. Then the whole thing sits on a concrete paver. This is how I handle all my "invasives" like horseradish, mint, and jerusalem artichokes. So far, it's working pretty well, although I haven't harvested my horseradish yet this year so it's a little crowded in that pot.

That's nice that you don't have to bring yours in! What is your hardiness zone?

 

[thistlebloom]

I really doubt that landscape fabric will ever degrade, especially when buried under soil. I really reeely wish it did. It's pernicious and horrible to work around in the landscape.

Okay, back to horseradish...

 

[Smart Red]

I really doubt that landscape fabric will ever degrade, especially when buried under soil. I really reeely wish it did. It's pernicious and horrible to work around in the landscape.

Okay, back to horseradish...

There is landscape fabric and there is landscape fabric. Some of the home improvement center fabric can almost be torn by hand. Some of the professional fabric (in my turn-around) is still going strong -- that would be pernicious and horrible -- letting the weeds grow down into the soil, even as it keeps the weeds from growing up through it. Cutting it out? Forget it! Broken blades and rusty scissors are all I get for my efforts.

I fear my landscape fabric will outlast me and cause future descendants to cuss me out for "planting" it there.

 

[britesea]

Our hardiness zone according to the Sunset Gardening book is 1- the coldest winters in the West, mostly because of our altitude (about 4500' above sea level). According to the USDA it's 7a. All I know is it gets cold, and the growing season is way too short for my taste.

 

[thistlebloom]

There is landscape fabric and there is landscape fabric. Some of the home improvement center fabric can almost be torn by hand.

True, there's all different grades and qualities. Even the crummy stuff doesn't break down under soil. It will eventually degrade from UV light, if it's exposed. If it were put in the very bottom of a raised bed, under a foot and a half of soil ( at least) I think it would work the way Journey thought it might to block roots.

I just have a bad attitude towards the stuff. It's put in by landscapers, who are on the job to design and install and leave.
Then the gardeners get to deal with their bad choices down the road as they do the real life maintenance.

 

[digitS']

There is landscape fabric and there is landscape fabric. . . letting the weeds grow down into the soil, even as it keeps the weeds from growing up through it. . .

The neighbor had all sorts of root growth under, through and above the buried fabric. This was bindweed and quackgrass (along with practically every other weed known!), so it was real tough just to pull fabric out, let alone the roots! It may have killed what he originally put it over but what grew on top, went through it!

Maybe that is a way to make use of the fabric. Roll it out in the spring and roll it up in the fall. Shake off any weed seed that may have drifted in over the summer. Then, figure out where you are gonna store it ...

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

True, there's all different grades and qualities. Even the crummy stuff doesn't break down under soil. It will eventually degrade from UV light, if it's exposed. If it were put in the very bottom of a raised bed, under a foot and a half of soil ( at least) I think it would work the way Journey thought it might to block roots.

I just have a bad attitude towards the stuff. It's put in by landscapers, who are on the job to design and install and leave.
Then the gardeners get to deal with their bad choices down the road as they do the real life maintenance.

Ain't that the truth.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The neighbor had all sorts of root growth under, through and above the buried fabric. This was bindweed and quackgrass (along with practically every other weed known!), so it was real tough just to pull fabric out, let alone the roots! It may have killed what he originally put it over but what grew on top, went through it!

Maybe that is a way to make use of the fabric. Roll it out in the spring and roll it up in the fall. Shake off any weed seed that may have drifted in over the summer. Then, figure out where you are gonna store it ...

Steve

There are different grades of the fabric. The Bermuda grass roots grows under, over, and through the stuff the landscapers used. Bermuda grass roots grow under, over, and through every grade I've found at Lowe's. I'm sure there is some grade of Landscaping Cloth that the roots won't grow through but I have not found it yet. For the woven type the roots don't just grow through vertically, they follow the weave and weave themselves into the cloth.

The mulch on top breaks down and becomes this nice rich compost the Bermuda loves to grow through. You can pull the fabric up in the Spring or whenever and take that nice compost off the top, but it has Bermuda seeds and bits of roots in it. That does not go in my garden. The roots are woven into the fabric and are really a challenge to get out. That's slow painful work. So if you put it back down and re-mulch it, but you are just replanting the Bermuda roots.

But if you are growing ground-hugging Juniper you cannot pull it up if that Juniper grows much. It's really really difficult to weed under or in that Juniper too. it's painful to even try.

If those professional landscapers Thistle is talking about maintain it, they probably do it mostly with chemicals.