Re: rocks

You know, Claire, I have come to the conclusion that plants LIKE
rocks...it's gardeners who don't because they make soil hard to
cultivate.  This observation is based on the fact that every plant on
my property seems to prefer seeding into the gravel drive to any
other location.  This is 3/4" bluestone over stone dust over
clay...total depth of rock about 10" or so, with humus that has
sifted down from decaying leaves and other vegetation over the years.
 I have plants seeding into this that refuse to seed into the beds
surrounding the mother plant.

My theory is that the rocks protect roots, keep them cool and provide
little pockets of moisture for them.  Roots grow around rocks and
I've even dug up some plants to find them attached to the type of
rock we have here that I call 'rotten' rock, because exposure to the
elements causes it to decay in a few years.

So, maybe we should all save ourselves some work and just add some
good soil mix around rocks and plant into that and leave the rocks:-)

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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----------
> From: ECPep@aol.com
> 
> We are in the same position on a mountain between NY and Mass, the
last of 
> the Berkshires.
> 
> Gardening in rocky ground is seldom discussed.  I have watched my
husband use 
> various, what I call, crowbars also.  We have also used the farm
tractor and 
> a backhoe.  More and more I do not move the rocks.  We find spaces
between 
> them and plant there.  We build up planting space on top of the
original soil 
> and several other methods as well.
> 
> While a soft rich soil is wanted, it is not here on the mountain. 
One day it 
> occurred to me that nature plants the entire area (except where
there are 
> automobile sized boulders) over and around the rocks. Some
indigenous plants 
> do very well in this environment though a book with instructions
would tell 
> you to dig and enrich the space.  I am coming to terms with rocks 
> successfully as long as I do not want to grow carrots.
> 
> Claire Peplowski
> NYS z4
> 
>
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