Seeking Asphalt-breaking plant

[aebe]

Hi everyone !
First of all a warm HI from a newcomer in Z?rich, Switzerland !
I plan to 'attack' a surface covered by asphalt, but otherwise unused - and the official person in charge is nowhere to be found out..

as a discreet alternative to manually ripping open the asphalt,
* does anyone know of a fast-growing plant whose roots can crack open asphalt * ?

I was thinking of a slow natural conversion of asphalt into a guerrilla garden, making use of first already present cracks in the surface.

Thanks for any advice !
Denis

[Lucien Samary]

Excellent idea! I can't wait to hear what other guerrilla gardeners have to say about this! 

[aebe]

Dandelion maybe ?
"Dandelions have a long taproot and will overwinter. About the only thig diesel sprayed on the surface will do is pollute the groundwater. To kill dandelion, you need to use an herbicide that contains salt of dicamba. "

from >>http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=22026

[buddleiabill]

Buddleia seem to thrive just anywhere they like , in concrete , up chimneys , on walls .
Try speading the flower heads in the cracks .

bB
 

[flower43]

Horse Tail can grow in asphalt!  It's roots are more than 2 metres down! It has sharp piercing stems which can grow through asphalt and help to colonise an break up the surface.   

[flower43]

Just look what I've found!!



Asphalt asparagus!!!   

[tampopo]

Greuzzi,

my vote is NOT to try mares tail, horse's tail. It's too difficult to eradicate. I'll try and think of something else....
Tcheuss!

[aebe]

Great ideas, thanks. Although indeed it seems that both Buddleia and horse tail seem to be difficult to eradicate, apparently.
But if all fails surely a good option. i might start with Dandelion, then see what happens. at least the Dandelion is already everywhere, so some more on the asphalt does not hurt i guess ;-)

[aebe]

Forgot to greet everone:
Gr?ezi !

And Tsch?ss :-)

[tampopo]

ich bin de wilde fumbler! Ich hahn dich so vermischt es isch unglaublich!

anyway, I would still vote against mares tail and especially dandelion/tampopo. I would vote FOR buddleia though, fwiw.

tcheuss!

t.

[cannonsblazing]

I too vote for Buddleia! (even though I love dandelions)

[sleepyowl]

I've seen daisies do it

[cannonsblazing]

I've seen a tennis ball sized mushroom do it, year after year in the same spot (they fixed the hole with new asphalt each year, in vain), but growing one on purpose may proove difficult! 

[Gunwharf]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_knotweed

Thats your baby but make sure its legal in your Country.

[naLaochraDearg]

Knotweed is incredibly invasive and near impossible to eradicate.

it was introduced in parts of england and western scotland to bind coastal and marshland soil together, to stop soil erosion, so the land could be farmed.  Only problem was it was too successful, and now there are government programs in place to try and eradicate it bit by bit.

Sure it'll destroy the asphalt, but what if it jumps the boundary wall?  Then it will reflect badly on guerrilla gardening.

[cannonsblazing]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_knotweed

Thats your baby but make sure its legal in your Country.

There's a REASON it's illegal in some countries. Don't ever plant it. It spreads like fire, and will take over gardens and parks. Like naLaochraDearg said, it's nearly impossible to eradicate.

[cannonsblazing]

You'd never think it... I never thought it!

I pass this every day on my way to work. For those of you unfamiliar with Scilla (or Chionodoxa, could be either), this brittle little flower has a bulb growing under the asphalt! My guess is they asphalted over it, and it decided to grow anyway...

(And it is solid asphalt, I know it looks gravelly in the picture...)

Maybe not the most efficient choice for actively breaking up asphalt, but still!