Re: rhodies & blackberries

You're most welcome, Diann.  Have come to know clay soil intimately
over the years:-)  Would welcome a chance to get to know that great
midwest black loam instead...meant to include the URL to Tom
Clothiers excellent article on making soil in that post, but got
distracted and forgot...here it is:

http://www.anet-chi.com/~manytimes/page4.htm

If your plants are doing OK, then you don't need to worry about the
underlying soil being solid clay.  In nature this is often the case -
I've got a lot of woods growing just fine on my native clay - and
some plants actually prefer "retentive" soil to lighter stuff.  Some
of the best Brunnera I've got put themselves on a pile of clay
subsoil and just love it...no accounting for some plants tastes.

Only if you find your plants are not doing well - and, of course, in
dealing with members of the rhodie clan or others who need a fast
draining, light soil - do you need to face digging them up and
refabulating the soil.  Personally, think it's best to always improve
clay soil for a new bed.  Once the initial hard labor is over, a
mulch will keep the good stuff going for all but the extremely heavy
feeders who will need to be lifted and have amendments added every
few years.

I don't tend to buy mulch anymore, other than the odd bag here and
there....resort to piles of free woodchips from tree service
companies, but think I used to get it from a mulch company.
Actually, your load of chopped up bark would work just fine, esp. if
it's been sitting around for a while and is good and black.  If it
contains a lot of big pieces, you can either screen it (I use 1/2"
hardware cloth on a wood frame) or leave it or yank them out.  If it
looks like it just came off the tree, add some additional high
nitrogen fertilizer to compensate for that which will be taken up by
the microbes digesting the carbon in the wood.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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----------
> From: Diann Barbee Thoma <diannthoma@EARTHLINK.NET>
> To: shadegardens@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SG] rhodies & blackberries
> Date: Friday, July 28, 2000 1:16 AM
>
> Thanks so much for this long treatise on dealing with clay soil,
Marge.  If
> I only knew "then" what I'm starting to learn now.  My plants from
3 years
> ago are mostly doing OK, but I know some of the underground is
intense clay.
>
> Where do YOU buy a truck load of fine chip pine bark mulch?  I just
got 4 cu
> yards of mulch, which is chopped up bark of some kind, but I don't
know what
> kind.
>
> Thanks again--I'll be referring to your information for many a
year.
>
> Diann
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