Benster,

I didn't realise that you were a hillbilly too!

I've just put a piccie of you and Jerry (does nobody use their actual name around here?) aka Mr Hillbilly (by me), in the above post.

Great likeness???

Here's another pic.  Any of your relations?:



Don't remind me of in-breeding.  One school that I taught in many moons ago had a lot of in-bred children.  They had a whole host of psychological and physical probs.

If I kept someone in on detention I'd get a possy knocking on my door, the heavy brigade asking me what I was doing to their cousin!!!

The school was since burned down (by the pupils) and that is a long way away from my peaceful garden here in the South of France.

I haven't seen or heard any dragons lately.  Still waiting (when you have the time).

Blessings,

Sarah

ps You and Jerry will have to start translating some of the lingo if you go too broad!

Looking after the future of our planet

Hello Judy,

Nice to see you again.  I didn't know what I was letting myself in for when I invited Jerry!!  (just kidding).  He's certainly livened up our garden.

Hillbilly flowers?



I love poppies.  A field of poppies is a wonderful site.

Angel cuddles,

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

I think Jerry would liven anything up!  He's a HOOT!!  (Hi Jerry)

Judy

Hi Sarah, Dragons are on hold, until I figger out how to add pics in these here forums ya'll got goin'. But on a more 'solid' note (reference aka -> yer hard clay soil), having been raised in the nursery & landscape business in Floridia, maybe I CAN offer some help in that area. Believe it or not, not all parts of Florida are sandy. As ya' get close to the Alabama & Georgia borders (I believe distant cousins to hillbillies) there is a lot of red clay, though not all of it is hard. In fact if it rains then you can easily pick up 2-3 lbs of clay on each shoe and walkin becomes quite uneasy to say the least. The best cure for clay in your garden is to get some sand and peat-moss, or bog-peat. You'll want to remove the clay as far deep as you want your roots to go. Then mix in a wheelbarrow or a big tub or whatever, one part clay, 1 to 1/2 parts sand and about 2 parts peat. Mix thouroughly. At this point some people place a small bed of gravel in the bottom of the hole, for aeration. It helps, but it's really optional. Replace around the roots carefully insuring you leave "NO" air pockets. Pack this around the plants 2-3" higher than the original ground level of the plant's trunk. Soak with water until the soil is re-packed about level with the original ground-level. This may take 20-30 minutes/day for 3-4 days before it is complete. The key thing here is to insure there is no air around the roots and the ground level at the trunk is the same as before. Primarily you want to do all of this when the plants are dormant, like in the winter. It doesn't have to be freezing (oh, that's REALLY fun), but the colder the air and ground are, the less likely you are to disturb the roots or kill the plant. Roots are a tricky thing, so you have to be careful when you do all of this. Next take a proportionate amount of plant food, or fertilize, and spread it around the plant 6-10" away from the plant, being careful NOT to get any on the trunk or foliage. Since many fertilizers have harsh chemicals and are not altogether "Earth-Friendly", you may also want to consider using something more natural AND more healthy for the plants and garden in general. I recomend a product called 'Fish-Emulsion'. I don't know if they have it in France, but basically all it is, is liquified fish heads, guts and innards. It comes in 1-gallon jugs, and smells like a million corpses from hades, but plants love it and so does the Earth. Also, it's hard to over-fertilize this, as it's all-natural and quickly absorbed by the soil. You just mix one capfull with 1 gallon of water and soak the soil around your plants. And it won't hurt the trunk or foliage either. If you can't find it anywhere or anything like it, a more subtle (and "free") substitute, is to build a place to keep fish-remains after you go fishing and clean 'em. Just add a small bit of water when you put more stuff in yer jug each time, and by Spring you'll have enough to mix in the field behind yer plow. Close-pins on the nose come to mind at this point. I hope this helps with your garden. I've given this advice to many a person and the results are most always spectacular. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but your garden will thank you and the joy you'll get from it will far surpass any grunts you had setting it all up. That's all I got fer now. Ya'll take care and send me some pics of the new garden next Spring. Until the next one, I am, The Benster

Sarah,

Whardya git tha family pics? Ima gonna tar an feather tha dirty offspring of a polecat who benn givin' them away! LOL I'm jist glad cousin Cletus ain't writ in an toll ya bout our brother marryin our sister or that our ma were our dads cousin, ner any oh that uther sinseetiv stuff! LOL

"Hillbilly Translater"

Whardya - (where did ya)
git - ("get"or "leave real quick before something bad happens to you"- normally         said "git outta")
Ima  - (I'm)
gonna - (going)
polecat - (skunk or another member of skunk {weasel family} family incorrectly                  called a "Civit Cat" {actually applied to the spotted skunk incorrectly}                 a true "Civit Cat" is another species all together)
tha - (the)
writ - (wrote)
toll - (told)
ma - (mother)
ner - (nor)
sinseetiv - (sensetive)
**********************************************************************

Ok, all kidding aside Sarah. You've got an issue that is quite simple in theory, but can be quite a struggle in practice. The vegetables and flowers will be easiest (but can still be a lot of work initially) and the solutions lie in practices perfected in your European gardens:

1. "Double Digging" - a method of loosening the soil deeply and adding a lot of compost or other organic matter to a depth of approximately 2 feet.
2. "Raised Beds" - (my personal favorite) to a depth of 1 to 2 feet. And fill the beds with a mixture of good soil, compost and sand (a 1, 1, 1 wix) or rather basic potting soil. Can be a bit expensive to start, but a lot less work in the long run and easier on your back once established.

Time will not allow me to go into detail in this forum. But please feel free to contact me for details if you wish. The key is organic matter and lots of it.

Another method that works well when used prior to "double-digging" is to plant particular cover crops first. These would be any of the clovers or legumes, but sweet clovers are best if you can get them in France (I would think you could) because of their deep root system. Clovers and legumes have the ability to penetrate and break down clay and the more often you do this, the looser your soil will get. For this to work properly, you should dig the soil as deeply as you can first and add some compost. Then plant you cover crop. Once the cover crop matures and starts to bloom, mow it down to chop it up and dig it in immediately. For some clovers, it may require that you "pre-chop" it first because they can get quite large (over 6 feet). I find an electric hedge shear works well for this. I just sweep it back and forth over the clover, working my way down the plant until I reach "mower height". I like to use a mulching mower that I can cover the discharge chute to grind the cover crop. After grinding, I then "double-dig" the plot. Like I said earlier, the more times you do this, the easier it gets and the better your soil will get.

As with all new beds or improvement programs, the first year is always the worst and hardest. If you stay on top of it, each year therafter gets progressively easier. For this reason, I normally start with small plots and work up from there. The best time to start a new bed or improvement project is in the fall while there is still 2 or 3 months of growing weather left. But any time is better than not at all.

Trees,

This can be a difficult situation in many areas (depending on the depth of your clay and underlying structure) because of the amount of root area needed and the tendency of trees to "circle" a hole trying to stay in the "improved soil" zone. First dig you hole twice as wide as the root ball and three times as deep. Next, loosen the soil in the bottom of the hole as deeply as possible and add organic matter to the bottom of the hole and mix thoroughly so that the mix is roughly 1/3 organic matter. Mix organic matter with the soil you removed from the planting hole to a mixture of not more than 25% organic matter (compost). Back fill the planting hole  so that the tree will set with approximately 20 to 25% of the root ball above the surface when planted (the soil will settle at least this much). As you back-fill the hole, loosen the soil around the sides of the hole and lightly tamp the soil to firm it. I will often soak the soil as I back-fill to settle it. If you use water to settle the soil, you will need to let it soak in somewhat between back-fills. But because of high clay content you may not be able let all of the water soak in and you may need to just get muddy. Contiue this back-filling untill you get the soil to the proper depth and plant your tree as normal.

When you are finished, a part of the root ball should be above ground as stated earlier. Don't worry about this. Just bring soil up around the root ball and when finished, mulch heavily to a width approximately twice the width of the root ball or 4 feet (whichever is greater). Buils a "dam" of soil around the tree approximately 6 " high to form a well or pond about 4 feet accross. If your tree has been growing in a nursery pot, make sure to loosen and "detangle" the roots before planting. Do not fertilize the tree until new growth emerges and then only sparingly the first year. You want to force the roots to penetrate the soil in search of food. Keep the tree watered during the first several months and then gradually decrease the water ove the next few months to force the roots to search for water.

As to trees appropriate for your conditions - any of the Oaks are always good choices for heavy soil. Other pretty good choice in your area should be any of the Pines or Cedars.

One thing that often helps is to "inject" Gypsum into the soil around the trees. To do this, simply start in a circle approximately 2 feet from the trunk of the tree and punch or drill holes (yes a long {2 feet or more} auger bit for wood, in a drill works well) approximately 2 feet deep every 12" to 18" around the tree. Into each hole dump about 1/2 cup of Gypsum, allowing it to run down the sides of the hole. When this circle is done, move out another foot and repeat the process until you have completed a circular area about 8 feet accross. Each year thereafter, add a couple more circles untill you reach about 12 to 16 feet accross. The gypsum will break up and loosen the clay but will migrate only approximately 2 to 3 inches per year.

I hope this helps and for anyone wishing more details, please feel free to contact me. I'll be glad to help any way I can. Oh and Sarah, because gardening knows no boundries, our newsletter is indeed international now.

the "Hillbilly Gardener"
Lyndell (Jerry) Miller
(417) 777-2285
plantman.ozarks@yahoo.com
www.jerrysplantsonline.com
www.icelebrateholidays.com

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