Soil Improvement -Reply

I try to keep it "simple" (that said with as little
sarcasm as possible).

Every year I order a unit or more (7 cu. yards in a
unit) of yard debris compost or mushroom compost
delivered to my home.  In my mature and existing
beds, I simply (ahem) cut off the dead perennial
tops, trim the roses/shrubs up, weed if necessary
and dump the stuff by the wheelbarrel load, 
spreading it with the back of a heavy rake, leaving
it several inches thick.  I do this starting in Jan. in
my Pacific Northwest Garden, before things have
"grown up" too much.  By summer you can't even
tell it was there, it has worked its way into the
existing soil by rain and earthworms.  I wish I had a
technical, detailed brain that could recite to you the
studies that have been done about how deep and
well earthworms take down soil, etc., but I don't, so
you'll have to find your own research ;^D

In my cutting garden, which is more like starting
from scratch each year because it has all annuals,  I
basically do the same thing:  clean the beds, dump
a load and spread -- but then I take the extra effort
to take a sturdy spading fork and stick it in to its full
length of the tines (because there are no
roots/plants to distrub) and gently (on all but your
back and arms) rock back the soil to aerate a little. 
I do not turn the soil over.  I do this every foot or so
to a fairly large area (17' x 22'), but feel its good
exercise and I can vouch for the results.  I do not
ever till anymore and disturb the soil structure.

Susan Saxton
For mine is just a little old-fashioned garden where
the flowers come together to praise the Lord and
teach all who look upon them to do likewise.
Celia Thaxter
1835-1894
>>> Barb Pernacciaro <bpern@idcnet.com>
01/13/99 03:30pm >>>
Here's a new topic and some questions for the list.
After watching HGTV and all
the wonderful LUSH gardens, I wonder if my soil is
up to par.

What do you do to keep your soil up to snuff -- short
of digging everything up
to amend the soil under each and every plant with
compost, peat, green sand,
organic fertilizers, etc.
 
I admit to being remiss in digging up and dividing a
lot of the perennials I
have  (bad back), except for an easy few that
spread vigorously and obviously
need dividing like the Siberian Iris which forms
doughnut-shaped clumps as the
middles die out. And then there's the Dictamnus
which doesn't like disturbance
at all. Many of my plants grow cheek-to-jowl next to
others, each with different
preferences.

Is mulch which breaks down enough to improve the
soil and provide nutrition for
the hungry plants? Do you regularly use a fertilizer?
If so, what kind?
What's your favorite mulch?
-- 
Barb P.(who will have to dig this year just to get the
sneaky grass out)
SE Wisconsin, Zone 4

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