Re: Improving drainage - 'no till method'

Kay,
Thanks for your reply.

I can get horse manure and I will have tons of mulching material when we
get around to doing our winter cutback.  I assume that one just shovels
a thick layer directly on to the soil (suits me, I don't like digging)
and wait and replace whenever required.

I am not able to contribute generally to the forum as many of the plants
discussed here are unknown to me and are not usually available for
purchase locally.  However, over the past year or so, there is a much
wider range of plants available.  I do enjoy reading queries and answers
from people in various parts of the globe.
Cheers,
Maria in Costa Blanca
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kay" <dreher@seti.org>
To: <marianoo@wanadoo.es>
Sent: 16 December 2003 22:45
Subject: Re: Improving drainage - 'no till method'


> I inadvertently used the "no-till" method on my semi-shaded clay soil
> by putting down about 1-2 inches of medium coarse bark mulch just for
> weeds and not taking the time to do any cultivating. When I got around
> to digging, after a couple years, much to my surprise the soil was
> light and fluffy under the mulch.   I was an instant convert to this
> method I'd stumbled on out of procrastination. It does take years
> rather than months, though I think you could speed it up by
> incorporating some organic material into the soil and putting on more
> mulch than I did.
>
> Have I mentioned lately how delightful this forum is? I don't post
> often, but I always look forward to the contributions. Thank you all.
>
> Kay in Berkeley, California
>
>   On Friday, December 12, 2003, at 06:14  AM, <marianoo@wanadoo.es>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > With our higher than normal levels of winter rain for the past
couple
> > of
> > years, the lower level (south side) of the garden is completely moss
> > covered and damp.  This area is surrounded by Myoporum laetum hedge
> > about 2metres high inside a low retaining wall.  Therefore the area
> > gets
> > little winter sunshine to dry off all the water that drains down
from
> > the rest of the garden.  The existing plants i.e. oleander, almond,
> > schinus are doing well but newly planted trees last year have not
> > thrived but still alive.
> >
> > So how do I improve the drainage in my clay soil?
> >
> > Moira wrote before of the 'no till method' using large amounts of
> > mulching material to improve soil condition.  This would obviously
help
> > but is it enough?
> > How many years (!) before you can see an improvement?
> > What depth of mulch should one use?
> >
> >> From a very pleasant Costa Blanca (24C today)
> > Maria
> >
> >
> >
>
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