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Woolly Pod Vetch - living mulch/nitrogen fixer.
By Chris Meagher
At one point, many years ago, I planted 'woolly pod vetch' as living mulch/nitrogen fixer.
I had been alerted to this species as for reclamation of extremely poor soils, in harsh climates. This was the opposite of my conditions, but, it interested me. My regret was almost immediate. Still sticks in my neck that I actually paid for these seed, too. It appears to be quite delicate, 3 or 4 spatulate leaves in rosettes along the stem. Every single part of this plant is covered in tiny hairs with the same, if not superior,
properties of velcro. This characteristic allows it to reach the sun from even the most inaccessible places. By no means a twining climber, this brute can climb rocks. Having reached open space is when things start to go awry.
Almost immediately it flowers, then produces seeds at an unseemly speed. From this point on the growth rate accelerates at an alarming rate and will smother anything and everything it comes in contact with.
Some lateral shoots can reach extraordinary lengths - 10m given the right conditions. Whilst it is still growing the seeds are fairly stable, provided nothing comes into contact with them, to which they immediately adhere themselves (for that matter, so will any other part of the plant).
The seeds, or 'pills' look like tiny brown tennis balls, they form in pairs - and look remarkably familiar.
The plant is quite easy to pull and readily breaks, but there is no escaping getting covered in it, especially the seeds.
Once the plant dries, either through breakage, or at the end of the season, it looses the velcro-like hairs and the seeds now acquire all the attributes of ball bearings - any disturbance causes the seeds to disperse. If they hit a hard surface the ball bearing similarity comes into play and they can be dangerous to walk on. My big problem was that I lived in a semi-tropical area. Rich soil. Lots of rain. Indeed I made the classic 'new settler' blunder. I did manage to get rid of it, took me 12 years. I doubt I managed to eradicate it though, the seeds, when dry, are hard as steel - therefore, the possibility of not all seed having germinated over twelve years, are legion. Woolly pod vetch will germinate and grow in full sun, or complete shade - it is indeed a primary reclamation species. I would suggest collecting the entire worlds supply of seed and sending it to the moon. |
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The copyright for this content entitled "Woolly Pod Vetch - living mulch/nitrogen fixer." has been specified by the contributor as:
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