planting in heavy soils

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Having grown up with adobe soils, the point of wisdom we always adhered to was to chunk up the sides of the planting hole quite roughly, so as not to make a smooth "pot-like" surface, which can  fool the roots into growing round and round.  Often when larger trees blow down in the strong winds, one can see that the roots which pulled up had acted as though they were in a large pot.  Whether we amended as we used to, or not so much as we do now, that has seemed to be a significant factor in our very heavy soils.

 

Karrie Reid

Folsom Foothill Gardener

Zone 9