Re: Arilbred Culture
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: Arilbred Culture
- From: T* T* L* <t*@rt66.com>
- Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 10:00:52 -0700 (MST)
Sharon writes
:
:In Oklahoma, drainage was certainly the key. Our soil was also acidic, heavy
:clay -- heavy enough that mud puddles tended to persist for a week after a
:good
:rain -- but it was never limed or lined with anything porous. We planted all
:iris in raised beds, separated from the lawn by trenches that served to
:keep the
:bermuda grass at bay. After a heavy rain, those trenches looked more like
:moats, but they did take the excess water away from the iris.
Yes indeed! When I gardened in Las Cruces, I had heavy, heavy clay. After a
drenching rain, a ten-inch layer would cling to your shoes as you walked.
When it got dry, it was like hardened cement. The irises were grown in beds
that were 6 to 9 inches higher than the furrows that ran between and
carried the irrigation water. The water would spread into the soil around
the irises, but the irises never had standing water over them.
So although I would never describe the soil structure as "well drained",
the effect was about the same--water and air in the soil around the roots,
no water on the rhizomes!
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Tom Tadfor Little telp@Rt66.com
Iris-L list owner * USDA zone 5/6 * AIS region 23
Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA)
Telperion Productions http://www.rt66.com/~telp/
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