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Soil for tree in raised bed
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Posted by firstyear 6 MA (My Page) on Tue, Feb 2, 10 at 19:23
| I'm planning on planting a couple fruit tress in 3 foot by 3 foot by 12 inch raised beds this spring. European pear will be one, apricot/plum fruit cocktail will be the other. My native soil is the standard acidic, sandy loam everyone seems to have in New England. PH is around a 6.
There is close to a cubic yard of topsoil sitting behind the shed from some beds I tore out in the fall. The soil had day lillies and siberian irises.
My vegetables in raised beds have thrived in a mix of 6 parts native topsoil:2 parts coarse sand:2 parts peat:1 part compost, but I'm at a loss of what type of special mix to use for fruit trees in raised beds(if any).
In the beds reserved for the trees, which option makes the most sense?
1) Native soil, small rocks and all.
2) Native soil, sifted
3) Native soil amended with compost
4) Native soil amended with peat and vermiculite
5) Container mix of sand, peat and vermiculite
6) Other?
Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I keep dithering between option 1 and option 3 based upon which threads I read on any given day. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Soil for tree in raised bed
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| Fruit trees will do fine with #1. After planting cover the surface with a good mulch. Maybe a little fertilizer later if needed. Just don't go overboard on fertilizer. Too much nitrogen can lower fruit quality and increase chances of fireblight in pear. |
RE: Soil for tree in raised bed
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Another vote for native soil as is, with a good mulch. I use a little manure the first couple of years to help get fast growth and get the tree established, but later just mulch.
and unless you have a serious drainage problem, or just like the look of raised, I wouldn't do that much work. whew! --smiles his jolly smile-- |
RE: Soil for tree in raised bed
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| Thanks Guys...much appreciated. I like it when the easiest option is the preferred one. It's more the look of raised fits in with the rest of the backyard and I need to do something with a big pile of good topsoil :). |
RE: Soil for tree in raised bed
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| As long as the topsoil isn't finer that the soil beneath you can use it for the look you want. Just make sure the roots are planted into the native soil as well so they don't get stuck in the topsoil. Fine soil on top of course creates drainage problems by interfering with cappillary flow. |
RE: Soil for tree in raised bed
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| Thanks Harvestman...if I did nothing to amend or sift the pile o' dirt, it would be the exact same soil as the rest of the yard. The ground where I'm planning to place the beds is pretty compacted as the previous owner had a delivery truck sitting there for a few years. Would it make sense to loosen the soil underneath the bed for a foot or so as well? |
RE: Soil for tree in raised bed
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| Absolutely beneficial to loosten soil at least double the diameter of the current roots. If the soil is so compacted that digging with a shovel is torture and a pick helpful you better go beyond that. Generally it's not recommended to go deeper than roots are planted but in seriously compacted soil it can be essential. If you go deeper than roots you must tamp the soil back down vigorously before planting (the soil below planting depth) to prevent the tree from sinking or plant high as you already intend. Make sure dwarfing rootstocks arent buried below graft union. |
RE: Soil for tree in raised bed
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The folks at the University of Cal did some work on planting in compacted soil. they had dramatically better results by doing the following.
Dig a very large hold, down 3 feet deep but leave a "pedestal" in the middle that is only lower than ground level by as much as the root ball. Another way to say this is imagine planting the tree in a planting hole the size of the pot, but then dig all around it for another 3 feet out and another 2 feet down. Set the tree on the pedestal then back fill with the same soil. You will have broken up all the compaction. NOT the easy way since that is a lot of digging, but trees planted in compacted soil often take years to get through it or may never. They will be slow growing and struggle.
Great job for a back hoe or some young lad who needs a little weekend job, for $20 and some pizza and a soda. |
RE: Soil for tree in raised bed
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| That's seems like a great idea as long as it doesn't create a bathtub. In CO that might not be such an issue, but in areas with humid (rainy) summers, severely compacted soil usually doesn't drain well and heavy rain will sit in the loosened soil, drowning the tree. In this case, water needs to be drained from the holes with a drainage system or trees must be planted on berns. If soil is too compacted for best growth but still has adequate drainage that plan is great- I'm grateful for the information. |
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