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| Hey, so I'm still a newbie to gardening, but I've read alot about permaculture, and it all starts with the soil! Since my soil is a lot of clay, and I made room for a much larger bed, what is the best way to improve soil quality? I'm planning on burying oak wood, then adding manure and organic matter in layers... but now I'm reading that certain woods will leach tannins, including oak... or just the leaves? Is it a good idea to use oak wood and bury it in hugel culture fashion? I have access to large amounts of oak wood, that's why I'm asking... |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by greenthumbzdude (My Page) on Mon, Feb 25, 13 at 21:49
| Oak is fine I see ferns and moss growing on old oak stumps all the time. Tannins are only produced to prevent animals from eating the tree; it has no affect on plant growth. I would not use black walnut though because it contains juglone which is a chemical that does affect other plants like tomatoes. The leaves of black walnut is also toxic. When your done you might want to add some walls on the sides to stabalize the stucture(rocks, earth pounded tires, concrete blocks, etc.)because if you get a heavy rain the manure/soil will runoff. *If you have any roadkill (deer, rabbits, squirrels, etc.) in your area I would add that on top of the oak wood and then bury it with the manure/soil. This would create an insane about of fertility. |
This post was edited by greenthumbzdude on Mon, Feb 25, 13 at 21:50
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- Posted by emgardener 9 BayArea CA (My Page) on Mon, Feb 25, 13 at 23:56
| Put in a LOT of organic matter. I have heavy clay soil and was for years very disappointed that all the leaves, needles, kitchen scraps, ... would be quickly consumed without a trace they had been there. Just got done adding 50% wood chips to my soil over hugel beds. With clay soil, make sure you design it so you can dig in more organic matter in future years if you need to. Otherwise you'll be very disappointed to have to dig out the logs you dug in, just so you can add more organics. (This has happened to me). You'd probably be interested in these: http://lowcostvegetablegarden.blogspot.com/2012/10/wood-chip-soil-pict ures.html http://lowcostvegetablegarden.blogspot.com/2012/10/garden-bed-construc tion.html http://lowcostvegetablegarden.blogspot.com/2013/02/hugel-hole-preperat
ion.html |
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| The tannins in Oaks have numerous uses among them preservatives and they may have some insect repellant properties, but they pose no problems in soil unless they are present in very large quantities. Use your Oak in your garden. Some people just never quite grasp the concept that organic matter, in soil, is the one part that is digestable and that the Soil Food Web will digest the organic matter in the soil so the nutrients in that OM can be utilized by the plants growing in that soil. Organic matter will "disappear" as it is digested and will need to be replaced on a regular basis. The mineral portion of soil, what makes your soil clay, sand, or whatever, will always be there and does not need to be replenished. |
Here is a link that might be useful: About Tannic Acid
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