Re: CULT: Adding sand as soil amendment
Hi John,
I'm not exactly sure, however it may have to do with the way worms eat and break up organic matter. If trees are buried to deeply in the soil for worms to get at readily they stay closer to the surface in summer wher they don't go so far to rid their casts. Then different organisms break down things at a lower level, usually microrganisms which leave smaller tighter particles thus clay. I have not heard of this creating a problem with most organic material, just trees. Possibly because their material is denser to begin with than straw or peat. Both of which worms will dig gown to get. Maybe they taste better? ,or are easier to digest making it worth the effort. I have been told this by gardeners 40 to 50 years my senior and in the old tradition of giving advice was expected to use it to see for myself. Maybe because it was passed to them the same way. The only thing I have squeaked from a K-State proffessor for why is what I wrote above. I know my garden in Texas that I dug a 2 feet deep by 20 foot by 6 foot hole, Through away the Clalache, however it is spelled white clay. And bought and filled with real dirt and barkmulch etc. turned to 4 inches of good soil and the rest clay in about 2 years. I was told it was the wood chips and barkmulch that caused it. I may as well went to mom and dads and drug Kansas black clay to San Antonio. My garden was beautiful but difficult to dig in. Little hand shovels bend in half before the soil would give. Hope this helps
Wendy
----- Original Message -----
From: John Jones
To: iris-talk@egroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 12:12 PM
Subject: Re: [iris-talk] CULT: Adding sand as soil amendment
wendy Dunafon wrote:
>
> Also using bark to add organic matter to soil can turn the soil into clay, Dad says nature know best and nature does not bury trees in the ground it allows them to rot on top to add to the soil or burns them.
I guess I am missing something here. Adding bark on top of soil would
seem to me like letting (part of) a tree rot on top of the soil. No
gardener I ever talked to ever said that adding organic matter was
anything but good for soil. I sure would appreciate some more
explanation about how this works.
Thanks
John | "There be dragons here"
| Annotation used by ancient cartographers
| to indicate the edge of the known world.
________________________________________________
USDA zone 8/9 (coastal, bay)
Fremont, California, USA
Visit my website at:
http://members.home.net/jijones
President, Westbay Iris Society
Director, Region 14 of the AIS
Director, American Iris Society
Chairman, AIS Committee for Electronic Member Services
Subscribe to iris-talk at:
http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/iris-talk
Archives at: http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/
Subscribe to iris-photos at:
http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/iris-photos
Archives at:http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/
________________________________________________
eGroups Sponsor
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
