On 4/25/2021 2:37 PM, bob prohaska wrote:
> I'd like to collect some common vetch seeds from roadside patches
> to see if they're useful as groundcover. In this (very dry) year
> the bloom is good, which augurs well for drought tolerance.
>
> Collecting fully-ripe seeds is difficult. The county mows road
> shoulders at irregular intervals, making the plants hard to find
> at all and scattering what seeds might be present.
>
> I've tried grabbing a few whole plants at random times, hoping to
> find a few mature pods, but it seems that if visible flowers are
> present essentially no pods are filled out. Once bloom ceases the
> plants are surprisingly hard to find among the other weeds.
>
> Is there any technique to help unripe pods mature enough to yield
> viable seeds, either left attached to the plant stem or taken
> off? Might putting the cut stems, with pods, in water like cut
> flowers allow any useful development?
>
> Thanks for reading,
>
> bob prohaska
>
I tried it as a ground cover for my slopes in the back yard years ago
when it was widely used along roads in neighboring PA. Stared growing
nicely but disappeared. Turned out the deer loved it.

Frank <"frank "@frank.net> wrote:
[regarding common vetch]
> I tried it as a ground cover for my slopes in the back yard years ago
> when it was widely used along roads in neighboring PA. Stared growing
> nicely but disappeared. Turned out the deer loved it.

The only herbivores in my yard are fox squirrels. Whether they'll
be a problem with vetch is unclear, but they're becoming destructive
to pecan catkins.

Apart from lack of persistence did you observe any objectionable
features of the vetch?

Thanks for writing!

bob prohaska

On 5/1/2021 2:57 PM, bob prohaska wrote:
> Frank <"frank "@frank.net> wrote:
> [regarding common vetch]
>> I tried it as a ground cover for my slopes in the back yard years ago
>> when it was widely used along roads in neighboring PA. Stared growing
>> nicely but disappeared. Turned out the deer loved it.
>
> The only herbivores in my yard are fox squirrels. Whether they'll
> be a problem with vetch is unclear, but they're becoming destructive
> to pecan catkins.
>
> Apart from lack of persistence did you observe any objectionable
> features of the vetch?
>
> Thanks for writing!
>
> bob prohaska
>

It had been quite a while but it was growing nicely. Cannot remember
how I planted it. I had same experience with ivy which deer would eat
in winter. I had a lot of both on my banks and not a trace now and have
of late been fighting Japanese stilt grass and sticky weed.

There is also shade to consider. Deer do not eat pachysandra but it
appears to like shade and I do not see it in sunny areas.