The Secret to Dark Brown Soil

Photo courtesy of JC Shannon

The soil in this photo is dark brown and rich looking. That means it is good soil. Getting the soil to look like this was fairly easy. Before this patch became a flower bed, it was covered by large junipers that dropped needles on it for decades. I left all those needles in the bed to improve it for the flowers.

After I initially shaped and otherwise prepared the bed, I have never tilled it. But twice a year during planting I mulch it with a layer of compost.

That's it. That is the simple secret of creating good garden soil. Mulch the top and don't till.

Manana!

Permaculture or just lazy?

These fruit tree trimmings are going to a
friend's house to be used for heating.

I know people who drop their garbage where ever they are. It doesn't matter if it is on the road, in the yard, or in their homes, they just drop it. Oddly enough, I have friends who leave garbage in their trees. Sick branches ooze plant puss, dead limbs block light and fresh air, and rubbing branches cause open wounds begging for disease and insects to come and partake.

All in all, it is as disgusting as six months of leftovers sitting on the floor.

The funny thing is, those branches could be doing something productive for tree owners if they just had the heart to cut them off. Large and medium limbs make good fuel for the stove or BBQ and are useable for building anything from fences to furniture. Smaller branches or larger pieces ground down make great mulch and all sizes of wood are game for making crafts.

Look around, turn your waste into a resource, and give the world a little more life.

How to Plant Trees

By starting with a well thought out plan, you can
reduce the stress on your trees. This will get the
roots growing almost as soon as the tree is planted.

I pass by newly planted dead trees all the time. I also pass by a fair share of holes where others have already been removed. Careful planting is necessary to having a strong, good looking tree years down the road. 


The following five steps will improve your chances for establishing a strong healthy tree. For more tips please see Seven Tips for Planting Trees.


Step One
Dig a hole twice as wide as the rootball (the area of root and soil that came with the tree) of the tree and no deeper than the rootball.


Step Two
Carefully remove the tree from its pot and place it in the hole. If the hole is too deep, now is the time to fill it in. If the root ball is sticking out of the ground take the tree out and dig a little deeper.


If the roots are ringing around the pot, try to gently loosen them. If you are not able, carefully cut them so they can grow out into the soil.


If the tree is in burlap and a wire cage remove them after you put the tree in the hole. Use bolt cutters to remove the cage.


Step Three
Make sure the tree is straight, or crooked depending on your preference, and fill the soil in carefully around the tree. Pack the soil as you go. You should not add anything to the fill soil, but it is ok to mix it with the soil from the rootball. 


Step Four
Water the tree in with a hose and compact the soil again. Fill in any spots where the soil is low or washed away.


Step Five
Make a ring around the tree and put a four inch layer of mulch in the ring. The ring should be big enough to keep lawn equipment from hurting the tree, but bigger is better. Remember, the mulch is protecting the root zone, but it should not be placed against the trunk.


Trees are meant to live a long time. They may even outlive the person planting them. It makes sense to take the time and effort to do it right. So plan ahead, go a little slow, and think about the future as you plant.

Seven Tips for Planting Trees

I remember my first tree planting exploits well over a decade ago. The trees are still alive, but I have learned a lot in the process that improves the chances for tree survival and overall health. Here are seven tips I wish I had known:


Tip One
Know your tree. If the tree is the wrong type, it will never be its best. Or what you want it to be.


Tip Two
Pick the right spot, this goes hand in hand with tip one. I have seen many large, fast growing trees planted within two feet of a house. Frequently the home owner starts fretting about the foundation after the tree has been in five years and is nearly touching the foundation, as well as the eaves.


Tip Three
Don't mix topsoil, fertilizer, compost, organic wastes, gummi bears, or anything else with the planting soil. If the soil is not already good enough on site, spend a few years improving it before planting trees.


Tip Four
Mix the soil that is already with the tree with the soil from your hole. Doing this will make it easier for the roots to transition into the new soil.


Tip Five
Plant the tree so that the soil level of where the tree has been growing is matched to the level of where it is being put.


This can be difficult, especially with balled and burlapped plants. The machine used for digging the tree often throws dirt up around the base of the tree hiding the original soil line. I always clear the dirt away so that I don't bury the tree to deep.


Some fruit tree rootstocks will need to be planted deeper because they are more brittle. Do this only if you already know the rootstock is a weak variety. Never bury the graft.


Tip Six
Rough up the edges of the hole if they appear slick or smooth. Slick sides can act like the edge of a pot and cause roots to circle around instead of going out into fresh soil. This is especially important if the soil is high in clay.


Tip Seven
Create a large tree ring and fill it with mulch at least four inches deep. Remember to keep the mulch a little away from the trunk, the tree needs room to breath!




With these tips goes a little planning and a little care, but if you are going to plant a tree that might out live you the extra care goes a long way!

Time to Till?

This soil has been broken up and loosened
by winter freezing. All it needs is a good
weeding and it will be ready to plant.

So spring is come and your first thought of gardening is to get out there and till. After all, what is more fundamental than breaking up the soil for a good seed bed?


Or is it? The list of why we till includes: loosening the soil for planting and bed shaping, mixing in amendments, and annual weed removal. Lets take a closer look and see what we really need to till for:


Loosening Soil 
As long as the soil is not compacted, roots move through it with relative ease. Yes they will grow quicker with fluffy soil, but they will also burn through nutrients quicker and the tops of the plants will grow faster. You might say this is not a problem until you see your corn or prized flowers tip over after a wind or rain storm.


The real issue is if the soil is loose enough for you to plant your seeds and transplants. If you are adding a good organic mulch every year, the soil will be nice and soft without having to beat it up.


Bed shaping also does not require tilling if the soil has been taken care of. I find that I have fewer problems with garden beds slumping and shifting if I skip the tilling and keep up on the mulch.


Mixing Amendments
Most amendments will trickle into the soil or get stirred in by small critters. A layer of mulch on top will help this by giving the critters reason to move around to different layers in the soil. 


If you have to add a large amount of lime or gypsum, you may have to till to keep the them from hardening into a layer of concrete. Also, treating a sodic soil is a special situation that requires many unusual practices to correct.


Weed Removal
There is nothing like getting out there and ripping weeds apart with a power tool. This is very effective with annual weeds. But for those weeds that hang on for more that a year it is only a delaying tactic. All those perennial weeds that get cut up will root back down and send up shoots leaving you with more weeds than you started with. To really kill the perennials, you will need to remove all the plant bits or till every two weeks for the next three years.


Tilling will also bring buried seeds to the surface where they can easily sprout on a soil that has been prepared especially for their liking.


A much more effective and long term remedy for weeds is to remove as much of the individual weed as you can, then use a fully biodegradable weed barrier (read cardboard, newspaper, or craft paper) covered by a thick layer of mulch.




Reality is that tilling is a fine tool for extreme situations. But for average soils on the standard home garden it simply isn't needed. Good soil maintenance with liberal applications of clean, good quality mulch will get you much more now and for years to come.