Re: Tilling when wet
- Subject: Re: Tilling when wet
- From: M* T*
- Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 00:27:28 -0400
Karen, Bill is right with the squeeze test.
Clay is particularly bad to work when too wet because it simply balls
up and what few pores were in it get squeezed....totally ruins the
texture. You need to be careful walking around on clay soil when
it's wet, too as that compresses it.
What you might do is assemble as much organic material as possible -
like chopped leaves or compost or failing that some bags of manure
and fine chip mulch and pile it 6" or so deep on the area she wants
to garden. You can put layers of newspaper over the soil and
whatever is growing there first - dampen them down if it's not
raining. Then pile on the organic material and let it sit this year
to rot down. Have her remove any weeds that seed into it during the
summer. Then, it can be turned over this fall and left rough over
winter and come spring, it should be a nice amended garden spot for
her. Meanwhile, this year, she can do some container gardening...you
could sit the containers on top of the organic material on her garden
patch.
You don't say what she wants to plant in her garden, but if it's
flowers, she could plant some perennial seeds in containers and learn
how to thin them out or pot them on and grow them this year so they
would be big enough to plant in her garden next spring. She would at
least learn that gardens are not an instant item:-)
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
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> From: Karen Butner <abtrlife@earthlink.net>
> Date: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 10:17 AM
>
> How wet is too wet to till. I know that if you till when it's too
wet
> the dirt will dry to concrete consistency, but at what point is it
OK. I
> would imagine the type of soil makes a difference, so the soil I'm
> talking about is southern Ohio red clay (Gallipolis). This is not
my
> soil, so I'm not used to working with it.
>
> My Xmas gift to my 9 yr old granddaughter was to help her start a
> garden. The only time I'm able to go is this weekend (they're 3 1/2
hrs
> away) and wouldn't you know, Ohio's forecast for the last 2 weeks
and
> the next 2 weeks is rain, rain, and more rain. Is there a "test"
that I
> can have my non-gardner stepdaughter do that would give me an idea
as to
> just how wet her soil is. I would imagine take a handful of dirt
and see
> how it clumps, but how can one tell when the moisture level is OK.
>
> The plan was to till and do some amending, but that may have to
change
> this year to container gardening. A raised bed is not an option at
this
> time.
>
> Thanks,
> Karen, z5a
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