Everyone has made points I can agree with. Carbon sequestration works better if the roots can go deep. The roots go deep at Rodale because they plow deep 2 years and then use no-till the third year. The organic matter and amendments have been worked deep so the roots go deep. They reduce erosion with cover crops but they do not eliminate it. Any act of disturbing the soil no matter how small allows some erosion. I think we are missing the real solution to the problem. The real solution is to stop buying corn fed beef (eat grass fed). Farmers will grow corn as long as people buy it. It is easier to make beef taste good with corn, but it can be done with grass. It is just harder. If managed properly, permanent pastures are the best way to stop erosion and actually build soil. We should also stop using corn for ethanol even if it is "no-till". It consumes as much as it produces and still causes erosion. It is important to keep pushing for true no-till or even partial no-till, but lets chop off the head of the snake, not the tail. In my garden, I can only use no-till about every 3-4 years. Most of the time I disturb the soil by mowing first. Then I till shallow. Then I till deep if necessary. It gives the insects and worms a chance to withdraw. Then I plant very quickly to cover the soil and feed the mycorrhizal fungus. Everything recovers quickly. Here is a link that might be useful: Garden For Nutrition This post was edited by GreeneGarden on Tue, Dec 11, 12 at 19:25

Hey all, I agree Andy. It's so good to compare notes and ideas and experiences from around the globe with like-minded people. Gee Andy, your Hoh. lanata sure is a different beast to ours! I've never seen anything like that in Aussie circulation. Anyone? Your backyard looks good - and now I might recognise your half-disguised face! :-) Looking forward to seeing that salzmannii/floribunda dwarf the tall boy. I photographed another one of our Hoh. lanata (?) in flower, at Pedro's yesterday - what luck and timing! I paid more attention to its shape as well. It does not have the bulbous shape of Dennis' plant, nor is it "furry" and narrow like Andy's plant. It is more open with wide, frosted leaves. The above photos of the Aussie Hoh. lanata do not capture the true petal colour. These new ones are more accurate. This plant is about as high as Andy, from base to top of the branched inflorescence. The leaves are approx. one metre (3') high and wide. Aussie Hoh. lanata (?) Pedro thought Dennis' plant might be Hoh. vestita. See photos below of mine by that name, in flower. It is a much smaller plant, and more bulbous in form. Hohenbergia vestita Dennis, I sent this thread to George, who has kindly provided some very interesting information regarding your plant, albeit no definite ID, as copied and pasted below. "Regarding Dennis' plant. This plant was from a batch of seedlings grown from Brazilian seeds. From memory the seeds were supplied as Hohenbergia leopoldo-horstii. I was never told if the seed was collected from wild plants or cultivated plants, so in reality they could be anything from a species to a hybrid. Perhaps even a variant of the species from a certain population. There was only a very small amount of variation amongst the seedlings, mostly with the foliage. Nearly all plants came up bottle-shaped with reddish-bronze foliage. Leaves are held stiffly upright but do not have that hard cardboard-like feel that some Hohenbergias have. All produced thick, soft undeground runners when planted in the ground. I selected the plants with the best shape, vigour and colour and culled the rest. I also held on to one or two of the oddballs from the batch. A very small number of seedlings came up with slightly greener foliage and a very small number came up with hard, darker leaves more typical of what I know to be H. leopoldo-horstii. There was no variation in inflorescence colour or shape. Dennis should put his plant in the sunniest spot he has to get the best shape and colour. It is a very hardy plant that grows well in the open ground, especially in the sandy soils found in Natal. Hope this helps. George" Thanks George! It's a small world, after all. Andy - whatever you have, I'd be keen to see your narrow furry Hoh. when it flowers. I keep needing to be reminded that inflo details are the major identifying factors. The same species can look so different in size, shape and spines in various localities/colonies in their natural habitat...but that ol' floral spike reveals all. Not being into measuring peduncles, or such, I appreciate the work of those who are. K :)

Hi Heather, I just wanted to make a couple of comments. It seems most of your questions and concerns were addressed quite well already from other members, inlcuding tips about compost and mulch which I also really reccomend. About the mango. I can't tell you for sure because I live in the American Midwest, a completely different climate from yours! However, I love tropical plants,and especially mangoes as they are my favorite fruit, hence me being on this forum, so I've read as much as I can on them and have tried to grow tropicals in anyway possible, and I've visited Hawaii and South Florida often. Mangoes are grown all over India, and many parts of India are very hot and dry, with temperatures getting into the hundreds(farenheit). Supposedly they fruit better that way. I think the leaves should get used to the sun as it gets older. And as long as you are irrigating it and mulching it,and all of the other plants you plan to plant, I really think it should be ok. I would really try frangipanis again. Three of the four that I grow seem to be VERY drought tolerant and tough. It can get very droughty here in the summer and they are in pots, plus it's very windy too, so they dry out very quickly. I have a book on them and it mentions that frangipani trees grow wild in the Central American deserts, in rock crevices, among cacti. And I've noticed that they grow very well by the ocean. And they cast lots of shade. I would definitly try date palms. They are beautiful, love hot, dry weather, are salt tolerant, and produce delicious fruit. Antother palm that you could try is the pindo palm or jelly palm. They are supposedly very heat, cold, drought, and salt tolerant. And the fruit can be made into jelly. The sea grape is another option that might work. I believe that they are almost as salt-tolerant as coconut palms, and you can eat the fruit too. Autograph trees are also mildy salt tolerant. The sea almond mentioned above is a really good idea. Try a dragon tree, I think that would proabably thrive there. There are tree-like yuccas that you might want to consider. In fact I think a lot of succulents and cacti as well would be the way to go. Apparently Crinums are salt-tolerant too. There is also the sea lettuce. Bromeliads- I believe the species would be hoyas and puyas(I'm not a bromeliad expert). There are cycads that you could grow, and there is one in particular that thrives in hot, dry areas, unfortuneately I cant think of its name right now. Good luck with your gardens. I hope you can create a little paradise!

Over the years, I've saved a ton of word documents that answer common questions. One of those documents is about particle size: Particle Sizes (ideal) In a perfect world, the mineral fraction for use in the gritty mix would range in size from 1/10 - 5/32" (.100 - .156", or 2.5 - 4.0mm). The bark fraction would be slightly larger to allow for some breakdown over the life of the planting ........ from 1/8 - 1/4 is about ideal (.125 - .250" or 3.25 - 6.25mm). For the 5:1:1 mix, particle size should be from dust to 3/8". (0 - .375", or 0 - 4mm), with most of the bark ranging in size from 3/16 - 3/8" ( .188 - .375", or 4.8 - 9.5mm). The perlite should be on the coarse side - something like the all purpose or super coarse shown below. If you read the size gradation next to the images, you'll see the images are misleading as the product appears to be much larger than the size listed in print. starter: 1/16 - 3/32 inch (1.6 - 2.4mm) you can sub #1 cherrystone/quartzite if available grower: 3/32 - 3/16 inch (2.4 - 4.8mm) you can sub #2 cherrystone/quartzite if available developer: 3/16 - 5/16 (4.8 - 8.0mm) you can sub #3 cherrystone/quartzite if available turkey: 5/16 - 7/16 inch (8.0 - 11.0mm) turkey finisher: 7/16 - 5/8 inch (11.0 - 16mm) The last 2 sizes of grit can be used as ballast in the bottom of shallow pots by mixing 3 parts of grit to 1 part of your soil; this, to avoid water perching above the layer. The layer should be as tall/deep as the PWT your soil supports. Skip this if using a properly made gritty mix. Al