3 May 06
Rototilling
The saga of the garden continues. Now we’re going to do the plot behind the almond tree which is out of the way of everything including the currently swarming bees, their accumulated detritus, tires, and whatnot. This is getting to be almost comical. It does seem that you can save a lot of money (if not a lot of time) by getting good advice before you start breaking your back with pickaxes.
A friend called me at six this morning from North Carolina (I was already at work) to ask how to address a vice-chancellor in an email. By their first name, said I. Oh, not chancellor so-and-so? Oh no, I don’t think so. But by the way how should I rototill packed-in Davis clay?
Oh, says she, there’s a man who will come with a tractor and do it for you. Look under rototilling in the yellow pages. And, sure enough, there it was. Greg in Dixon. I left him a message.
Either that or spend a lot to rent one which I have to lug over here. Not sure. But I did also go to Project Compost today to find out how to get yards and cubic yards of compost.
I am so, so in danger of becoming a gardening bore…
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If the guy comes to rototill, all very well. (But be very very careful about that tree’s roots. please. And those of every other tree in the vicinity.)
1/ A tree’s roots, especially in clay, are mostly in the top foot or three of the soil around it. They don’t look like an upside-down tree under there; more like a root pancake.
2/ A tree’s roots, as a rule of thumb, extend in a rough circle whose radius—not diameter, radius—is one and a half times the tree’s height. Feeder roots start at the tree’s dripline. These are, of course, not mathematical rules, but they’re reasonable guides to a biological, ergo variable, being.
3/ Rototill guys tend not to know this, and you’ll be doing the world a favor if you inform this one.
Now, if he’s all booked up or has decided to pursue his longtime dream of being a performance artist in the Aleutians, you start with 50 lbs. or so of gypsum from the garden store.
Put on a bandit bandanna, because it’ll make you sneeze otherwise, and strew the gypsum merrily (ideally on a wind-free occasion) onto the ground so it comes out looking like a light snowfall, an inch or two. Scratch it with a rake if you have any slope at all.
Then water it. It will dissolve very slowly, over the course of many waterings. You don’t need to wait for it all to dissolve before digging. What it does is make those clay particles clump into larger, siltlike particles, giving you entree’ into the soil with your trusty pick and/or spade.
I’ve heard it’s controversial (only re: how effective it is) but I swear it’s worked for me. Also nontoxic.
I forget how the sun/shade was in that spot, but I’m thinking the easiest place for you to dig right now would be in front where all those freeway daisies have already worked the soil for you, if you’re allowed to use it. Pop them up a few at a time and stick them somewhere else to start working for you there. IME they don’t persist as a weed.
Heh. You want garden bores, here I am!
Plus, Ron is right, those tree feeder roots will get destroyed by rototilling. In clay soils they often extend three times the diameter of the drip line.
If you need fine, loose soil on the top to plant seeds in, you can rake the top couple of inches, or add compost or topsoil to 1” or 2” depth.
Use your state’s ag extension service to test your soil before you add anything to it. You put the soil in the cardboard sample boxes they provide, then testing is usually free and will include recommendations for soil amendments if any are needed.
Look on the web for your local ag extension agency’s home gardening advice. They will know all about your hard clay and what to do about it. Specify that you prefer organic inputs only; otherwise they will give you all kinds of chemical advice.
Cheap compost is often available at your county landfill. Look up your local solid waste collection (city or county) to find out if they compost yard waste and if the compost is available free or at low cost.
Hope this helps.
More on tilling. If you have packed clay, tilling will temporarily produce the appearance of more friable soil. Then the clay will revert to clay because nothing about the content of the soil has really changed. Square one.
What you need to do is add compost (or gypsum as Ron describes; I don’t know anything about that) or other soil amendments to the clay to open up pores, help drainage, and aid the soil’s structure. Compost is the remedy. It makes heavy soils lighter, and adds bulk to light soils. It makes clay soils drain better, and makes sandy soils retain moisture better. You can never really have too much compost.
If you can get enough compost, add six inches to the top of your garden, gently fork the clay to open it up and work the compost in somewhat, and plant on that.
Thanks so much for your help! We picked up two cubic yards of compost yesterday. It filled the back of a pickup.
I’m cancelling the rototil guy. I DID rent a small rototill to loosen the top today, avoiding any possible contact with almond tree roots… Living with a geographer has its advantages: this isn’t clay, he said. What? What do you mean? I replied. It’s loam. Look at the soil map.
It’s a loam-silt mix with a clay substrate deep down. I think this is what they mean by grade-A topsoil. It’s different than the soil just a mile north in Davis by quite a bit. I’ll be working the compost in tomorrow. I’m wondering what took me so long, but better late than never.
Thanks again for your comments!