Can you amend soil around established plants?
janicej11
15 years ago
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lindac
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agojanicej11
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Amending soil in the planting hole, from one extreme to the other
Comments (5)I'm not going to get into this much because I don't have the time to write a lot or to check back frequently (it's raining today, so I'm inside), but... 1. Review the recent literature. Do the studies show a benefit to amending soil, even sandy soil? Basing what you do on gut feeling or opinion may not be as reliable as using scientific methodology. Horticulture has come a long way over the years, and not everything that people thought they knew has turned out to be true. 2. As you indicated, there is no "THE way to do it" because there are many variable involved and different situations present different sets of variables. However, I'm not sure I would characterize it as containing a "vast numbers of exceptions" either. I guess what I'm trying to say is, that even though there are definitely situations where amending backfill may be beneficial, it's practice is still much more widely practiced than would be indicated by research. I always chuckle a little when I remember a participant of a discussion about drainage saying, "It doesn't work that way in my part of the country." 3. Amending backfill can be detrimental to drainage (or beneficial, in special circumstances) and detrimental to root growth. While the backfill may not block root growth from the surrounding area, it can encourage root growth to be much more concentrated in the backfilled area (leading to a poorly formed root system)....See MoreCan I plant in soil amended with uncomposted steer manure?
Comments (5)Most all of the bagged manure sold in stores is a waste product from feed lots, Confined Animal Feeding Operations and most often when they clean up the yards, the pens, than manure is run through a dryer and then bagged. Aside from potential disease pathogens and being loaded with antibiotics (given to the animals both in an attempt to stop diseases in the animals in those confined spaces, and to aid in weight gain) what you get should be mostly manure, dryed manure, although it may be somewhat damp. If that manure is used in your garden it should be applied to the soil and tilled in a minimum of 90 to 120 days before you harvest the food from that garden....See Moresoil amendment with initial planting?
Comments (18)It's possible your previous trees were killed by the bathtub effect. A couple of mine met a similar demise. One thing that's helped me is to see how water moves through the planting area. The trees I drowned were planted in spring, and there wasn't much rain during the summer. It turns out, my bathtubs were caused by irrigation runoff in a low lying area, from my sprinkler and some contribution from my neighbor's sprinkler. I've gone back and successfully planted in the very same spot, with no change in irrigation, by putting in a raised bed. It didn't take much, just a few inches. One reason I like to amend is because it's very difficult for me to work with clay. It has no tilth. It's heavy, unruly, chunky, and difficult to shovel. It sticks in large globs to my hands, to the shovel, and to itself. It does not provide for a uniform backfill, which makes me concerned about frost pockets near the roots. So I amend, heavily. Unfortunately, it makes planting even a single tree a very time consuming event! Lately I've been using a combination of organic matter (e.g compost) and inorganic (e.g. expanded shale, scoria, perlite, etc). Some very experienced conifer folks in Denver use turface, and I will be adding that to my mix this year as well. That said, I also like the water retention features of clay, as it helps the soil stay moist between waterings. Another part of my (working) theory is that a finely aerated and well draining area near the freshly planted tree promotes rapid new root growth, which in turn increases the plant's chances for survival. In time, the trees will figure out on their own where to put their roots. Spring melt at Gore Creek, Vail...See MoreSoil amendment for native plants?
Comments (7)I would strongly recommend choosing plants to suit your soil, instead of trying to change your soil to suit the plants you want. This goes not only for you in So. Cal., but for anyone anywhere. You'll have a much easier time and more success choosing plants that are suited for your conditions. It sounds like you have the sort of soil that will suit a wide range of plants, but any soil in So. Cal (or anywhere else) can support lots of interesting native plants. Las Pilitas is a good place to find plants suitable for your soil conditions....See Moreechinaceamaniac
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