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SERVICES SPECIALS ARTICLES BEFORE/AFTER CERTIFICATIONS GARDEN SUPPLIES ABOUT STEVE HOME SWEET HOME |
Steve Hewett |
Certifications include
CLCA Award Winner 
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Is Your Soil Sexy? |
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Soil has to be sexy to be alive, fertile, tillable, and provide the breeding ground for all kinds of life forms to reproduce. WHAT IS YOUR GARDEN'S PH? Without knowing the PH level in your soil you can easily kill lots of plants because they can not take up the necessary elements for proper nutrition and Photosynthesis. One time I was accused of killing some plants in a newly landscaped garden. The home owner wanted me to replace twenty five gallon shrubs. In this case the home owner was responsible for maintenance.I visited the site and elected to do a soil test around the root balls of several specimens. The owner had put a point of use drip emitter on only one side of the root ball. One side was wet, while the opposite side was bone dry! The PH reading in the wet soil was slightly acidic with a reading of 6.6 The dry side had a reading close to 7.5 quite alkaline. The result of improper distribution of the water around the drip line of the shrubs had created a chemical "lock out" zone where even though all the elements for growing were present the roots could not take up many of the necessary foods because the PH level was too high. The proper use of water by the root system carries the chemicals to the stems, branches, and leaves. If the soil is heavily compacted water can't flow and or travel well. Some soils are so heavy with clay particles that you can have standing water in the bottom at a well dug hole simply because the soil is at total field capacity and the water can't percolate. Sexy Soils Include Tilth!Sexy soils have good amounts of various kinds of organic material within the spaces of the soil particles. Rice hulls, manures, composted leaves, twigs, grasses, dead insect bodies all work to make the soil workable. The gases can't exchange and the earth can't breath.The more sophisticated soil laboratories will test for metals, minerals, toxic wastes, nematodes and salts. Thus increasing the knowledgeable profile of your soil. You can contact http://cesonoma.ucdavis.edu for selected plant and soil laboratories in Northern and Central California. Successful gardens, orchards, and crops; meadows, woodlands, and fields all need sexy soil to thrive. make your soil sexy. TEST IT. Then, AMEND IT You'll like the results. By Steve Hewett CLT QWEL
Hewett Landscaping |
