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Soil amendment for native plants?

17 years ago

I plan on establishing a habitat garden in my Southern Californian home and I need some advice on amending my clay-like subsoil. Most of the native plants I plan to use requre good drainage but do poorly in soil with high organic matter, so how do I improve drainage without dramatically increasing the fertility or organic matter (like compost does)?

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Comments (7)

User
17 years ago
rocks. Incorporate different sizes in our subsoil. Since you are where you are, please follow your fire safety recomendations when planting. Native plants are nice but not near buildings, if you are in the fire prone areas, which I think you are.
applebuilder
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you for the advice, I'll keep fire safety in mind when choosing plants for my garden.
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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).
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There will probably be various schools of thought about whether to amend or not. However one compromise solution is to create a raised bed that can be made using an appropriate acidic soil mix for the cammy to grow in. Ie., since these are surface rooters, you could slightly cultivate the native soil and then plop the cammy on top of that sandy soil (which would be good for drainage) and perhaps make a mix of native soil with some top soil, composted soil, and some peat for acidity), then mound around the roots in a bed allowing the top of the root ball to be somewhat exposed, then mulch that. Maintaining the acidity is often an issue for those not having naturally acidic soil but if you have oak trees around, shredding the leaves and adding that around the base would help. Alternately, you can get a soil test to see what needs to be added to make your soil acidic and buy acidifiers like ammonium sulfate, applying according to the directions. If you intend to fertilize, you would need to check the fertilizer label regarding whether it really contains acidifiers, since products such as Miracid originally didn't (prompting a label change and the offering of a "Pro" line of products now that has an acidifier, leaving the original product essentially a fertilizer-only product for acid lovers). Hollytone is an all-natural fertilizer/acidifier, which is another choice.
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I have been gardening for years. But I am finding clay very different. You all have been so helpful. I am really glad I started this thread. I can't wait to put it all into action. Only shallow holes for now on and I will only add the compost to top layer right below and with the mulch ;or as the mulch. I have had a worm bin for years. Just a large Rubbermaid chest with holes drilled into sides. Had to buy compost recently though. Couldn't make enough. I am still surprised about what is being said about not putting compost into planting holes. I have heard many times how gardeners do this. It makes sense not to I guess. But could all those gardeners be so wrong?
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as to dave and embo ... the problem is when the amendments are wildly divergent from the native soil... you can cause more porblems than solve .. e.g. if bad non draining clay.. with plants that like hig drainage ... adding water retaining peat into a wet hole.. only doubles your problems... etc ... plant killers 4 gallons must be perfect for his soil in his micro climate... etc ... you have to dig that hole and find out ... try to figure out.. how to let the soil.. at depth.. NEARLY dry.. in between deep waterings ... and frankly.. even in my glacial sand.. that can be weeks between waterings ... dexcept for the heat of august .. even if you figure it out for this month.. MOST LUKELY ... by late sept... you may not need to water much at all ... since the days wont be so hot;.... and with cool nights... they just dont need that much water.. just keep digging holes... ken
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User
17 years ago
I am glad topie came up with all of the links. I went to college in the mid 60's in the City of Orange and was dismayed to see the heavy fires the last couple of years. Good luck on your landscaping.
terrestrial_man
17 years ago
Use river sand or even pea gravel. You will need to dig deep to be effective, at least 3 feet, with a mix of 50% sand/gravel to soil. I had the same problem but with part of the soil being hardpan-a nightmare to break through and to remove.
applebuilder
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for the advice. The owner of a native nursery called Las Palitas instructed me on a perc test and turns out I have exceptional drainage (shows how much I know about soils). What looked like clayey stuff to me was, according to the owner, sandy loam, so I guess I should be good.
ladyslppr
17 years ago
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.
applebuilder
Original Author
17 years ago
The only thing is I think the subsoil at my house was imported which is why I was worried about the type of soil I had, as I wanted to keep within my own plant community. Seeing as I have excellent drainage the soil was probably brought in from somewhere very close so I should be safe, but you are absoletly right. If I knew I had native soil on my hands I would never dream of changing it.

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