Saturday, June 27, 2009

Bring that Soil Back To Life With a Few Steps

By Tracey Hobson
For the Journal
          Q. We're removing the rock and plastic landscaping at our new home. The soil smells sort of funny — sort of stagnant. My question is what should we do for the soil to get it so things will grow again in it?
        A. Ugh. Rock and plastic. The great killer of soil. Stagnant is a good word to use because there hasn't been any air movement in that soil for a long time. So it's up to you to re-incorporate that much-needed and missing oxygen back into that soil. And it'll be a bit of work too.
        First thing to do will be to break up that soil. It's been squished down by the weight of the rock, and I'll bet it's rather concrete like. A pickax and good old brawn is the ticket. If you're not into swinging an ax, rent a rototiller. Start axing or tilling and aim to get the soil rearranged to a depth of at least a foot. Deeper would be better, but your strength or the sturdiness of the tiller will be that deciding factor. Rough up the whole area that you are re-exposing to the light.
        After you've gotten everything turned and broken up consider doing a soil texture test to see what kind of soil you have. We have lots of types of soil here, and knowing what type you have will allow you to repair the soil with more ease. In a quart-sized jar fill it halfway full with the freshly turned soil. Fill the rest of the jar with water and shake it vigorously. Set it down and forget about it for awhile. When you come back to the jar, look carefully at the "strata" that has been manufactured by the shaking of the mixture. If you see mostly sand in the jar's layers you'll need lots of compost to help keep the moisture in the soil. Does the layer look more like clay or really fine silt? That'll keep the oxygen out of the soil nearly as well as the plastic did. You'll want to add gypsum and compost to keep the silt or clay particles from sticking together. If you are truly lucky and your jar shows several different, but fairly distinct layers, then you have pretty nifty soil.
        Knowing the texture and mixing oxygen into the covered soil will begin to bring it back to life. Watering the area will help remove that stagnant smell too. If you can till and water, rake smooth, add compost and till the soil several times for the balance of this summer, you'll have made your stagnant soil fertile again. By this fall, the soil and the weather will be ready to receive anything you plant with open arms.
        Q. The leaf lettuces I planted taste quite bitter as of late. Anything I can do for the plants to affect the taste?
        A. The only thing I can suggest would be shading the plants from getting as much sun as they are. If the lettuces are allowed to get too hot they'll develop that bitter taste you are getting. You can create a shade structure by tenting the area with a sheet or shade cloth for the time being. As the weather cools and the days shorten, which they already are, the shade structure can be removed. With the planting next year remember this valuable lesson (write it down in your journal) and plant the lettuces in a cooler spot or behind something that's going to offer protection as the season goes along. Meanwhile, snip off the offending leaves, feed them to the birds or your compost pile and rest assured that the next "crop" will be better.
        Need tips on growing your garden? How much to water those bushes? How to transplant a tree? Tracey Hobson is a certified nuseryman. Send your garden-related questions to Digging In, West Side Journal, P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, NM 87103.
       

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