Soil amendment options in Reno
korerko
17 years ago
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ljrmiller
17 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Amending sandy soil and fertilizing for apples
Comments (27)Fruitnut, well, I've never been called on to install fruit trees in a former corn field to I'll defer to your wisdom here. I am called on to establish bearing age fruit trees in all kinds of soil and sometimes on sites where there's hardly any. Establishment of these trees is more problematic than planting one year trees by a long shot. This being my main experience, I tend to error on the side of caution to assure their survival, because replacement is expensive. Dry fruit farming commercially is not done in neglect and if I was installing even whips on a site where the owner wasn't going to be paying much attention, I might include some compost amending as I describe here just to help assure quick establishment, even in the case of neglect and drought. Of course growing quality fruit is a balancing act and too much vigor is the worst thing for producing high quality well colored fruit. When I started my own orchard we were in several years of consecutive or almost consecutive drought summers. I got in the habit of mulching my fruit trees every year because my well was insufficient to spare water for the trees. This is the first year where I've regretted having done that. With all the rain we've had, my enriched soil may be contributing to bland fruit this time. Even if you get the balance right for an average season, it may not be perfect for an exceptional one....See MoreI have heavy clay soil, and raised beds won't work. Do I amend
Comments (13)Many kinds of maples are adapted to heavy soils and are planted in them by the thousands, as along streets for instance. It is the Japanese maple that is unusually touchy about drainage. If this planting site is big enough your best bet would be to excavate the clay soil and replace with lighter soil. If it is a narrow strip and the area becomes quite wet even that may not work, water coming in from the sides. Planting a tree or shrub over loosened soil is not a good idea because as the soils settles after planting the new specimen may sink to a level below the desired depth. Digging organic matter into a heavy soil will not have a lasting effect on the texture of the soil as the organic matter will gradually decompose and disappear. Even when non-decomposing amendments such as sand are used to alter the texture of backfill if the planting area is a small one there will still be the problem of how water moves into and out of the planting area being affected. Small areas of one soil texture surrounded by a much larger area of another are often a setup for problems. A large bed of soil amended with sand or similar material will also pose the problem of what to do when the dug over area rises up like a loaf of bread after the amendments are dug in - unless a soil already has a fairly high sand content a huge amount must be used to alter the texture of the finished bed significantly. If you can't excavate and replace a wide area of soil there or put a layer of more suitable soil over the top then it many just be that you can't safely plant Japanese maples in that particular spot. However, since you are in a fairly mild climate zone possibly it would be acceptable to plant them in suitably large tubs and place these on top of crushed rock or other covering in the same location....See MoreAmending our clay soil
Comments (2)I have clay soil in Jiggs. I have a large yard and buying soil additives is to expensive. I've used a lot of sand (from the local sand pit and they delivered) and compost and just worked it into the ground with our rototiller. I also use fall leaves and compost to mix in the garden beds in the fall. For flower beds in my grass, I dug up the grass sod and flipped the grass sod back into the flowerbed with the grass facing down and then back filled any holes with compost and added a couple of inches more of compost to the top of the grass sod and smoothed it out. I did this last fall with the thought that the grass would decompose and I wouldn't waste any soil from the diggings. The flowerbed soil looks good. It worked!!! You can also check with the Reno coop. extension/4H office they may know of horse and cattle owners that want to get rid of their manure. Compost that with some grass clippings, leaves and old hay and your clay soil will be long gone. Sorry I'm so windy with my reply. Hope I've helped! Val...See MoreMust-have soil amendments for new raised beds
Comments (25)tanya, Yeah, I have no idea how Agricultural Ext. services are offered in Canada. Your Government is usually more helpful than ours, so I'd really be surprised if you didn't have an office, with the testing services, available. I'd call or check in to a local school, college, or university, or local government and ask them. The teachers, or horticulture dept. directors should no doubt know, as well as your local government offices. I live in Tn. and our County Ext. offers the tests for $7. However, it does cost more in other States. I really can't, in good conscience, recommend those home tests. I would exhaust your efforts on professional labs before spending money on the home tests. Please let me know if your local or (is it?) Provincial Government has provisions for tests, as now I am curious. I'm ignorant to the local Government structures in Canada. Do you have Counties? That's how our Ag. services are delineated. Edit: Oh, and even though you had difficulties, and did use a lot of the fish compost, that should make for a VERY healthy bed in the long run. I surely wouldn't say using it was a mistake. I just think there's a learning curve on what it looks like finished, and how to use it properly. It's not available here, so I don't have the hands on knowledge to say what are good amounts. A web search should help, but sometimes it's tough to find good info....See MoreChenago
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoalbert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPyewacket
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoFull Circle Soils & Compost
8 years ago
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