I realised that @Chris-P-Bacon Lovely isn't it? You could just have pretended though I learned very early on, the importance of greenery all year round here, and planting which extends the seasons. We'd have a lot of very empty ground if we didn't. Soil [heavy clay] is very slow to warm up, and so are temperatures, so it's May before many plants really start growing, and autumn starts in August. Everything is later this year, and it's been very odd!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Makes sandy clay... compacts really well. As a 'no-dig' enthusiast I try not to dig anything in but I did dig some coarse gravel into my clay soil about 6 years ago. In all honesty it achieved little - apart from giving me back ache - slowing been adding garden compost, leaf mould when I can & composted bark. It's structure is getting better but drainage will probably stay relatively poor.
Organic matter is the magic product @Chris-P-Bacon In a pot, grit and gravel can help, but unless you're adding tons of it, adding it to beds and borders isn't the answer. Pots and borders are totally different environments, which is an often overlooked fact
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I've been told it is good to mulch in farmyard manure at the top once seeds have come up or if you are planting nursery grown plants? I have not looked into the science behind this. Can the manure decomposing process take in nitrogen from the air?
So, first all decomposing material, including farmyard manure, take in nitrogen from the surrounding soil to decompose into forming Nitrate, and then more to decompose further and form Nitrites. I think it is the Nitrites that is in the form plants absorb.
So, even if decomposing manure takes in Nitrogen from the surrounding soil to decompose in the first 2 stages, they put it all and more back into the soil in forms plants can absorb at the later stage when it decomposes into Nitrites.
I think, if the manure is at the top of the sol, it can use Nitrogen for the air to decompose into the first stage Nitrate, instead of from the surrounding soil. However, I am not 100% sure as I have not looked into this.
Close to 75% of our atmosphere is inactive nitrogen N2.
As I’ve said good farmyard and stable manure already contains nitrogen from the urea … so there is no nitrogen depletion of the soil when the manure breaks down … … and when obtaining well-rotted farmyard manure it has already rotted ie broken down, so can be incorporated into the soil straight away … again with no nitrogen depletion.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Mulch doesn't get dug in anyway. To mulch something means laying a layer of 'material' on top of soil, whether it's compost, manure, leaf mould or gravel.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
However, beneficial bacteria in the top soil and absorb N2 and form Ammonia ions NH4+ that plants absorb.
So, it is better to leave the farmyard manure mulched in the top layer where bacteria can generate plenty of nitrogen from atmospheric N2 in formats (Ammonia) manure can use to decompose. That way manure won't be "stealing" low levels of nitrogen lower down in the soil that plants need for their decomposition early stages. And manure will decompose faster near the atmosphere.
There are fertilizers that add these beneficial bacteria into the soil. I use Empathy AfterPlant Rose Food in both liquid and granular format to add beneficial bacteria that break down N2 to the soil.
Also, don't use tap water direct to water my garden, because the chlorine in it used to kill bacteria to purify it for humans, can kill beneficial bacteria in the soil. I have a filter at the tap end of my hose the water first goes through that removes chlorine when I water the garden.
Posts
Lovely isn't it?
You could just have pretended though
I learned very early on, the importance of greenery all year round here, and planting which extends the seasons. We'd have a lot of very empty ground if we didn't.
Soil [heavy clay] is very slow to warm up, and so are temperatures, so it's May before many plants really start growing, and autumn starts in August. Everything is later this year, and it's been very odd!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
As a 'no-dig' enthusiast I try not to dig anything in but I did dig some coarse gravel into my clay soil about 6 years ago. In all honesty it achieved little - apart from giving me back ache - slowing been adding garden compost, leaf mould when I can & composted bark. It's structure is getting better but drainage will probably stay relatively poor.
In a pot, grit and gravel can help, but unless you're adding tons of it, adding it to beds and borders isn't the answer.
Pots and borders are totally different environments, which is an often overlooked fact
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
So, even if decomposing manure takes in Nitrogen from the surrounding soil to decompose in the first 2 stages, they put it all and more back into the soil in forms plants can absorb at the later stage when it decomposes into Nitrites.
I think, if the manure is at the top of the sol, it can use Nitrogen for the air to decompose into the first stage Nitrate, instead of from the surrounding soil. However, I am not 100% sure as I have not looked into this.
Close to 75% of our atmosphere is inactive nitrogen N2.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
However, beneficial bacteria in the top soil and absorb N2 and form Ammonia ions NH4+ that plants absorb.
So, it is better to leave the farmyard manure mulched in the top layer where bacteria can generate plenty of nitrogen from atmospheric N2 in formats (Ammonia) manure can use to decompose. That way manure won't be "stealing" low levels of nitrogen lower down in the soil that plants need for their decomposition early stages. And manure will decompose faster near the atmosphere.
There are fertilizers that add these beneficial bacteria into the soil. I use Empathy AfterPlant Rose Food in both liquid and granular format to add beneficial bacteria that break down N2 to the soil.
Also, don't use tap water direct to water my garden, because the chlorine in it used to kill bacteria to purify it for humans, can kill beneficial bacteria in the soil. I have a filter at the tap end of my hose the water first goes through that removes chlorine when I water the garden.