Re: Fertilizing Iris Beds

In a message dated 97-02-15 13:29:30 EST, you write:

Sharon McAllister
>PLEASE NO ABSOLUTES!  It's not that simple.  Whether manure is hazardous or
>beneficial depends on the soil, the climate, and how it is applied.  

Yes, some of my best performance has been from iris in a 3 ft wide bed with a
3 ft wide mulch of FRESH horse manure about 6 inches deep, level with the top
of the bed.  Hey, they rot anyway, why not experiment.  Less rot after the
manure than before.  But this isn't Canada and we rarely have snow cover.

And Jeff Walters wrote:
>:  What should I (we) really be doing?

As always, talk to your local iris growers and see what works for them in
similar situations and soils.  Go look at their gardens - you'll get lots of
ideas to apply to your own situation. 

Here, where it rains so much, nutrients leach from the soil pretty quickly,
so we need to add a bit more fertilzer than others might.  Also, it depends
on whether you are a labor intensive 'keep them all alive' or 'let the
survivors win' type gardener.   So it's difficult to make generalizations
about fertilizing, just like everything else.  

Linda Mann east Tennessee USA
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