Re: Bed Preperation

My message is below...

At 02:18 PM 4/22/96 MDT, you wrote:
>At 01:14 PM 4/22/96 MDT, you wrote:
>>Hello Everyone,
>>
>>I need some advice on the preperation of a new bed for irises.  My soil here
>>in Raleigh, NC, is solid clay with boulders that I have to remove.  We have
>>a horse barn in the neighborhood.  Should I add manure in when I till the
>>bed?  I will be adding well established manure, not fresh and also pinebark
>>mulch for drainage.
>>
>Based on my experience with clay soil, I'd say don't even try.  Just build a
>raised bed.  You could go broke trying to get my soil built up good enough
>to have proper drainage for irises and it's an incredible amout of work.  My
>back still hurts from the work I did on one 3' x 6' bed.
>
>Monica L. Tittle
>hstrynut@ix.netcom.com
>Pelham AL, USDA Zone 7/8
>
>We all need help so we might as well all help each other.
Great sig above, I like it!					             --Me

Raised beds are the way to go for a number of reasons, but it is a good idea
for all to seek local advice from your Extension Agent, Soil Conservation
Service and/or a local club concerning soil prep. There are reasonable ways
to deal with clay soils, but clay chemistry is highly variable. For example,
gypsum works well in some clays, but is a total waste of time in others. In
some clay soils, fine builder's sand is a good amendment, in other types of
clay, you will unwittingly create concrete! This is why local advice is
important.  You have lots of garden clubs and wonderful sources of info in
the Raleigh area, so don't break your back or give up on your soil.  Clay
has some good aspects to it.  In general Bearded Iris like a lean
mineral-rich soil and too much fluffy organic material will promote rot. 

Have you heard of J.C. Raulston?  He is a famous and VERY FUNNY
horticulturists from Raleigh and Sharon will especially enjoy this little
story about him:

He spoke to a Rock Garden study weekend group as a dinner speaker in Seattle
awhile back. He stepped up to the podium to give his talk and in a great
flamboyant gesture flared open his sport coat and said, "Read my Shirt!"

Instead of a shirt and tie, he was wearing a Harley Davidson Logo T-shirt!

He went on to call rock gardeners "horticultural deviants" who persist in
growing outlandishly difficult and unusual plants.  "If the usual color is
white, you want a blue one, if it is normally blue, then OF COURSE you MUST
have the white form...."
Best Wishes, Louise

Louise H. Parsons  <parsont@peak.org>
1915 SE Stone St.
Corvallis, OR 97333  USA
USDA zone 7 , Emerald NARGS, AIS, SIGNA, SPCNI, transplanted Oregrowian
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