Resolving a Problem Around the Oak Trees

We are never going to win Garden Spot of the Month.  Our lawn is always overdue for being mowed.  With a challenging job and lots of chores at home with animals and gardening, we like to keep things simple.  We've always had a problem around our live oak trees.  Specifically, keeping the grass trimmed around the base of the tree.

Live oaks have large roots that come up above the ground making it impossible to mow close or you nick the roots pretty good.  We don't use Round-up and I'd rather have my toenails pulled out by the roots than weed-eat.  So what to do?  That's long been the question.  Well, last year we put the wood chip mulch around the base of the trees and let it compost down.  Then we planted Indigo into the wood chips and kept it watered.  Here is what it looks like this year:

Indigo apparently spreads by rhizomes and is taking off, covering the mulch, covering the roots and branching out.  When it grows out into the grass, I simply dig it up and replant it in a place closer to the base of the tree.  If you keep it watered, it quickly roots.  You can make many cuttings off of one plant.  In time, it will surround the tree like a skirt, and my weed eating dilemma will be solved. 

Another neat thing about the indigo is that they stay covered in flowers for a good, long time.  See how pretty they are?

The flower is almost like a wisteria in its shape.  Indigo appears to really like the shade or filtered sunlight in the understory of the live oaks.  We'll try to take cuttings and move around the other trees as well.  Seems like a perfect solution to a problem we were having and it's actually making our lives easier.  Win-win, they call it!