Re: Orville Fay
Different kinds of rocks are very different. Sandstone and typical bricks
are very porous and will hold significant water. A chunk of granite or
quartz however will not adsorb water. I agree with Claire that rocks (even
as small as sand) can be used as a mulch.
Harold Peters
Beautiful View Iris Garden
El Dorado Hills, CA USDA zone 9
harold@directcon.net www.beautiful-view-iris.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <ecpep@aol.com>
To: <sibrob@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2001 5:32 PM
Subject: Re: [sibrob] Orville Fay
> In a message dated 2/24/01 8:13:48 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> dickow@uidaho.edu writes:
>
> << How the devil could rocks retain water? My guess is that rocks have
> improved
> drainage or aeration rather than water retention. The only failures I
have
> in my garden concerning siberians seem to be related to rhizome rot and
> heavy wet clay. Dryness never results in total failure (=death) for my
> plants. >>
>
> I should not get into this type discussion but since I live with rock,
gravel
> or shale in all the gardens I will describe what I see.
>
> If you are weeding or cultivating a bed here and the soil is dry many
inches
> deep. a plant in that soil that does not have roots deep into the subsoil
> will either be a succulent or plant with a water retaining rhizome, maybe
> tuberous roots. Under the same conditions large rocks act as what might
be
> described as an insulating mulch. Pick one up and the soil will be damp
or
> even wet beneath the rock. Large rocks close together retain moisture in
the
> spaces between them allowing plants, for instance campanulas, to grow
where
> they would not grow in open soil.
>
> It is an old garden practice to dig a hole, lay aside the sod and first
few
> inches of soil. Remove the subsoil, put in the sod upside down, add the
> plant and top soil. Put in a few rocks and finish with the subsoil on the
> topside. A lot can be learned from older gardeners.
>
> If you think that rocks, bricks, any masonry cannot absorb water have a
chat
> with a mason. This is something technical that I can write about but
think
> would bore the entire list. A for example - a brick in a walk absorbs
water,
> winter comes, temps fall below freezing and the brick cracks. Think about
it.
>
> Claire Peplowski
> NYS z4
>
>
>
>
>
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