Rules Regarding Soils

A Few Rules Regarding Soils

CAUTIONS: NEVER USE DOG OR CAT MANURES IN YOUR GARDEN! (These contain dangerous pathogens and must be disposed of properly. A deep hole in the ground with a lid over can accomplish this.)

DON’T ADD SAND TO CLAY OR CLAY TO SAND! (These practices produce something akin to concrete.)

NEVER TAKE ALL THE ROCKS OUT OF NATURALLY ROCKY SOIL.
(Rocks help soil to drain. Take them away and your soil may lose its ability to drain.)

DON’T USED BAGGED COW MANURE ON CLAY SOIL BECAUSE IT HAS A HIGH SALT     CONTENT.

NEVER add RAW SAWDUST to garden soil!
(Especially if you are an organic gardener. In that case, it’s better to rot a tree trunk than have it ground up.)

• RULE OF THUMB: Add one to one one-half pounds actual nitrogen to every 100 pounds of raw shavings. (Problem for organic gardeners.)
• RULE OF THUMB: For a layer of sawdust you’ve spread one inch deep over 100 square feet, the nitrogen required would be that of approximately one pound of ammonium sulfate. (This poses a problem for organic gardeners, since ammonium sulfate is a synthetic fertilizer.)
• RULE OF THUMB:  When using sawdust as mulch increase nitrogen fertilizer you would regularly give to your plants by one-fourth and feed them more frequently. You can add a little sawdust to smelly compost to slow it down, in other words to provide carbonaceous material to balance the nitrogenous materials.
• Summing up:
  GOOD PRACTICES: Dig in organic soil amendment as well as fertilizer every time you plant a flowerbed or vegetable garden or a single row. In new gardens, especially on bulldozed ground, add massive amounts of organics (a layer at least 4 inches deep dug into the top foot, and then more added on top as mulch, but the more the merrier. Gradually increase the fertility of your whole garden by mulching repeatedly as the years go by.