Our ‘bad’ soil…?

I get comments all the time from discouraged local gardeners about ‘our bad soil’ in the Oakhurst, Coarsegold and North Fork areas.  Giving this some thought, I’m wondering if gardeners are making use of the natural ‘mulch’ we have in pine needles and oak leaves?  Using the resources we have here was a strategy I used mainly for economy.  With a large property, you can’t be spending money on a few bags of purchased mulch and make much of a difference.

After some reading and some research and my own experience in this new garden of mine, I’ve made peace with the soil in my garden and learned many of its ‘good’ points.  here is what I learned

2006- Planting Western sword fern and heuchera

Each year, in my planting areas, I add either one of these to start out the new Spring season.  As I weed, I turn over the mulch from last year with my trowel picking up a 1-2″ later of dirt.  This incorporates the mulch into the soil and eventually improves the texture of the soil.  This could be called a form of sheet composting.

Decomposed granite

Soil Texture

I think it’s the hard texture of solid seeming clay and gravely decomposed granite that discourages gardeners and leads them to replace much of the soil in planting beds or cause them to give up entirely and limit themselves to container gardening. Adding mulch to both of these soils solves the problem.

My only regret, however is not replacing the soil from next to my newly built home.  The concrete remnants left in the soil 1 to 3 feet around the foundation have given me fits and caused many failures in landscaping plants.

Loamy soil is the ideal and we are lucky to find it under our oaks and pines where years and years of composted leaves have contributed to the soil.

Both clay and decomposed granite have plenty of nutrients for growing healthy plants…I don’t think it’s the minerals in the soil that is the problem.

Thick clay needs organic matter added to make it plant friendly

Mixing in mulch

 If you have areas of clay, cover it with oak leaves and turn the clay over on top of this, breaking up as many of the solid clods as possible.  If you do this methodically, eventually your soil will improve. Rake up oak leaves and use them to your advantage, mixing them into your beds and planting areas. The fact that they ‘never decompose’ is a good thing!

After adding and mixing in layers of natural mulch into my soil for the last few years, I now have wonderfully friable and workable soil. The ground is lovely and soft from the rain in Spring and a dream to plant in.

It’s getting easier and easier to plant.  The soil is full of earthworms, and I see the whitish threads of mycorrhizae, the good soil fungus that helps plants absorb nutrients from the soil.  A mulch layer of fresh pine chips is also going to house beneficial predatory insects. The best thing about adding mulch to soil, is the texture which is loose and fluffy, all the better for plants to grow!

Autumn sage with pine needle mulch, stones hold the plant and water

Soil Ph

Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a soil.  Most plants grow best in slightly acidic soil — pH of six to seven.  Blueberries Azaleas and Rhododendrons love acid soil and need a pH of around five.

Barring just buying acidic soil at the store, your best bet for potted blueberries or azaleas, is to find an area of your property where the oak or pine leaves have composted for years.  Dig into that and use it to plant your acid loving plants. Azaleas and Rhododendrons in the ground also benefit from pine needle or oak leaf mulch, and especially your own kitchen compost..

Ash from a burn pile is ideal for use in patio pots.  Dig down into the scorched soil underneath he oldest burn pile you have and you’ll find the best ever ‘potting soil.’  Decomposed granite is also acidic.

What you want to avoid when planting is clay or soil that looks like the desert would,..where salts and heavy deposits of minerals may lie.  For clay soil add lots of organic material such as compost or composted leaves or pine needles.

Questions:

Are oak leaves or pine needles too acidic or toxic to plants because of the tannins they  contain? Can I use pine chips, needles and oak leaves?  Linda Chalker-Scott, professor at Washington State Universityruns the Garden Professors blog. She says, “Don’t worry about the tannins. It’s a non-issue in the landscape. Use them!”  All our leaf mulch from oaks works fine, too.

Does mulch attract termites or other pests?
No. Many wood-based mulches are not attractive to pest insects but are actually insect repellent. Mulch does not bring in termites. Termites don’t like wood chips.

Aren’t wood chips a fire hazard?
A: No. Coarse textured organic mulches, like wood chips, are the least flammable of the organic mulches.

Won’t wood chip mulches cause nutrient deficiencies in plants?
A: No. Many studies have demonstrated that over time woody mulch materials will increase nutrient levels in soils and plants.

When planting on a slope, place a rock on the downhill side to anchor it and keep water longer near the roots. Mulch with pine needles or chips.

A fun, homespun soil test

You can buy a soil test, but I never have done this. You can test your garden soil pH with vinegar and baking soda

Collect 1 cup of soil from your garden and put 2 spoonfuls into separate containers. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the soil. If it fizzes, you have alkaline soil, with a pH between 7 and 8.

If it doesn’t fizz after doing the vinegar test, then add distilled water to the other container until 2 teaspoons of soil are muddy. Add 1/2 cup baking soda. If it fizzes you have acidic soil, most likely with a pH between 5 and 6.

If your soil doesn’t react at all it is neutral with a pH of 7 and that’s pretty lucky!

See Wangling wood chips from work crews for how to get FREE mulch.