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Gardening in Oz

difficult to dig

21 years ago

I have sandy soil and I would like to add filterpress to bulk it up, however it is quite dry and hard. i was wondering if i should just put the filterpress on as mulch or whether i should persevere with the digging. if anyone could suggest a good alternative i'd love to save my back the trouble.

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Comments (12)

gardenlen
21 years ago
raised beds maggiep,

forget about amneding or digging just use raised beds, see my gardening page i have a section on how i do raised beds.

len

mail len

lens garden page
pos02
21 years ago
Sandy soil should be much easier to dig after some rain. When and if that comes, go out with a hoe or mattock to attack it. You can have problems with raised beds and sandy soil in that they tend not to retain any moisture (OK if you plant WA plants).
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Sparaxis
21 years ago
No dig gardens will retain mositure - I know this for a fact because I used to garden on a hill that behaved like a seive. Use a thick layer of newpaper underneath to help prevent rapid drainage.
gardenlen
21 years ago
dunno pos02,

i got very sandy loam here as well and my raised beds do the job very well.

len
Rose_Qld
21 years ago
Hi maggie
Sounds as though one part of your woes could be water repellency? I've been treating sand with a commercial mineral product and it looks promising. Filterpress is a good holder of water, isn't it? How about trialling an area with it as mulch and pulling it back after a month to see what effect it has had?
I like to partially line a sandy hole with newspaper to add OM, and to help retain water for a new plant: just threw that in.
Rose
marrion
21 years ago
Len, I was just reading your page of remedies and I wondered what Murphy's oil soap was? Have never heard of it. I use a possum spray that consists of hot chillies, garlic (deters the aphids) and onion, however I am beginning to notice that some of my rose stalks are getting the "bends" so would like to try your remedy.
gardenlen
21 years ago
g'day marrion,

you may have to do a search on google or somewhere to find out or go over to the the usa forums. when i see remedies i post them for posterity. if you do as suggested you will find a substitute product here i'm sure.

len
Puck
21 years ago
What's 'filterpress'?

Regards, Puck
User
21 years ago
I think its the sludge stuff that's left over from sugar-cane processing at the sugar mill. Am I right guys??
Dee.
Liatris
21 years ago
Yes, pretty much, Dee. It's not sludge when you get it though, just looks like any other 'soil' product. Very high in nutrients, I'm told. I would STRONGLY advise against using it any time within a couple of weeks of expecting company, though.
User
21 years ago
Is it a bit on the nose? What does it smell like? Can you only buy it in Qld.?
Dee.
ree_ree
21 years ago
Hi all, yes Dee it stinks pretty bad. It smells like a mix between an old long drop loo and molasses. The smell slowly dissapears in about 2 weeks. As we are in Mackay, Mum (maggiep) and I usually get it from a farmer friend or one of the sugar mills. The farmer has only ever used it in his garden and swears by it.
Ree

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