"not alleopathic, just very efficient at squelching the competition." Thanks, LZ!! That sounds sensible. Around here, (and you're right, foggy it ain't) this season, when all is terribly dry and brittle everywhere and will be for months, I think I'll leave a layer on the ground of both eucs and the ironwood, and put the mucho extra in the long term bin, watering it every now and again. If I run out of browns for the house pile, in they'll go, in smallish amounts. The house pile is ready for the second pile after about two months - the second I do nothing to and in a month it's useable for lasagna. A thought - our rainy season is October to March. That's it for the year, BTW. If all the allelopathic qualities drip down from fog, would rain do the same thing? That would make dripping leaves "poisoning" the ground 5 months, then the fallen dry ones relatively harmless, ergo useable. I don't want to over think this, but it's very interesting as a general idea about which trees do what and how to deal with them. Thank you all for your reasoned and thoughtful ideas on this!!!! Yes, Israel is a world leader in drip irrigation. Oddly enough, mostly small gardeners use it, larger market farms and agricultural growers use it less. Most of the cutting edge green low tech is not used here, but exported - knowledge and tools - to Africa and Asia, but for some cuckoo reason, it's not used here including low water, solar stuff and all the rest. And pn, see ya on HT!

Good idea! I'll try that when I start the heap off, and maybe use the compost tea at the end to introduce microbes more normally present in the soil. I also found this 'recipe'... 1 cubic meter = 35.2 cubic feet - sawdust. Urea = 1 kg. Triple phosphate = 1 kg. Potassium sulfate = 1 kg. CuSO4 = 200 grams. ZnSO4 = 250 grams. FeSO4 = 250 grams. MnSO4 = 150 grams. Boron = 150 grams. How does that sound? Should I worry about adding all that stuff? I also found the following (I saved the page and now can't find the link...) Consider using sawdust when it is easily and cheaply obtainable. Prepared properly and sawdust is a great organic waste for the garden. Sawdust is low in nutrients such as nitrogen when compared against products like straw or lucerne. This factor detracts many gardeners from using sawdust. In their raw state, hardwood and softwood contain poisonous substances, which may be harmful to your plants, but they can be easily leached. Hardwood sawdust, the coarser of the two, stays longer in the soil before decomposing. Both aid in making the soil more friable for increased water and air holding capacity. The material also holds nutrients well in the garden and potting mixes. Composting Sawdust Sawdust, while void of weed seeds, pests, and diseases, in its raw state contains the poison phenol. When used in the raw state, nitrogen is drawn from the plants causing a nitrogen deficiency. Bacteria need increased nitrogen as they digest the high carbon content of the sawdust. Instead of the nitrogen going to the plant, it goes to the bacteria. Prevent this by adding more nitrogen. Simply remove the phenol by positioning the sawdust heap in a location where runoff can leach away. Place on a slope or a mound of soil. Water it well and turn weekly for a month and then leave until you require it in the garden. The longer the heap is left, the better the product. The leaching will be dark and staining on timber and concrete. A potting mix containing wood materials will leach away the stained water after first potted. Consider this when placing newly potted plants on balconies. How-to make sawdust safe by composting. Consider the following three methods, adapted from Queensland Gardener, May 1986: Use sawdust in the garden compost pile in the ratio of 5 parts sawdust, 1 part fowl manure, 3 parts grass clippings and weeds, 1 part leaves, 1 part cow or other manure and add blood and bone in the pile building process. Construct the pile in the manner mentioned in my compost article. Compost by adding a cubic metre of sawdust to 1/3 to 1/2 of chicken litter or 1/3 fowl manure. The finished product looks similar in texture to the original sawdust and suitable for gardens. Dilute 2.5 kg urea in water and spray onto or mix in about 150 to 170 litres of fowl manure for every cubic metre of sawdust. (A 2 gallon buckets holds about 10 litres.) Water the pile well and turn it a few times over the initial two weeks. Following this, the toxic phenols should be removed. There will be little nutrition in the composted sawdust, so add manure or natural fertiliser in the usual manner.

I always lay my hand on a bag of manure to feel how much heat is being emitted. If it feels warm (out of the sun of course) I let it age in tha bag a couple of months - until it is cool to the touch. I have *adobe* soil and I find 1-inch of 'cool' manure dug into the top 6 inches of soil each year works well. 2-inches when I'm digging deeper. More than that and perrenials and annuals don't thrive. I suspect the salt content as well as the 'rawness'. My favorite amendment for clay soils is nitrogen reinforced redwood sawdust. It breaks down so slowly that friability is maintained longer, as well as combatting the akalinity of our soil. My best iris bed was created in the spring with 1-2 inches of cold manure, a sprinkle of bonemeal & a sprinkle of superphosphate dug down about 16 inches. New rhizomes planted late summer.

Best source I've found might be a bit of a drive, but if you have or can get use of a pickup, their material is what they use in their commercial potting mix. And thus doesn't have weed seeds and the like. http://www.pro-gromixes.com/index2.htm (just copy and paste into a new browser window) Their "spillage" potting mix is the best value but drains too fast for raised beds. Don't ask how I know... Tillamook Compost is outstanding. I've never inquired about straight soil as such, I've just mixed their compost or pumice or "clay buster" with the clay I've got. Works very well. Tom