Return to the Soil Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
Posted by
fenbields5 none (
My Page) on
Thu, Nov 29, 12 at 20:12
| Hello, first time poster here. Anyways, I just bought 2 acres and 1 acre is wooded. We are going to be planting a garden on about .25 acre that is very sandy. I was wondering if I could just take a few wheel barrows full of the humus lining the wooded forest floor and use it like compost to improve the soil of the garden area. Also, is the humus in the forest the same thing as compost? Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| Assuming what you're planting doesn't require a specific soil ph different from that of the humus, I'd say go for it. There may be some random seeds in what you pick up, but that's easy to deal with. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
Humus is the residual organic matter in soil, so what is on that forest floor is not humus but could be considered compost. You can remove that from the forest as long as you understand that you are taking valuable nutrients from the forest, that you will be disrupting the nutrient flow of that forest.
A few wheelbarrows full of that might be a start, but you will need to have enough to end up with between 6 and 8 percent humus in your garden. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| It's part of the forest ecosystem, so take care not to shock it. Nature can usually tolerate some use of a resource, just don't take it all. If your garden is really .25 acres of sand, you're going to need more than a few wheelbarrows! You might want to look for a local farm or someone who keeps horses where you can get some truckloads of manure. Just watch out for weed seeds and persistent herbicides. Happy gardening! |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| You might access the woodland plants that you'll be disrupting before you do it; if you're like me, you'll eventually come to appreciate your native areas more than your cultivated ones. Lots of woodland plants don't survive soil disruption---lady slippers and trillium, for example, require that duff layer for survival. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| I agree with annpat and tox. I'd wait to remove anything from the woodland just to see what's there and since you're going to need a whole lot more anyway I'd look to manures. tj |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| Yikes, I knew something was wrong with my post---Assess, not access. Check out what you have growing in your native spots before stripping the duff is what I meant. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
- Posted by claire z6b Coastal MA (My Page) on
Sat, Dec 1, 12 at 17:23
| I agree with everyone who says that taking loads of organic material off of the forest floor can seriously harm the ecosystem there. I have the same reaction when people repeatedly strip beaches of seaweed. While this is a great gardening component, the beach also has a complex ecosystem that depends on the nutrients and structure of the seaweed deposited on the beach. It's not as obvious to the eye as the forest plant community but the seaweed wrack line is still important to life on the shore and the stability of the beach. Claire Another reference: South Padre Beach Raking Policy: It's Not a Theme Park, It's Nature |
Here is a link that might be useful: All Washed Up and Somewhere to Go
This post was edited by claire on Sun, Dec 2, 12 at 16:50
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| Perhaps I should clarify a bit. I use the term forest rather loosely--it is actually just woods. It appears that they were cleared 10-20 years ago and the "humus" is really just the beginning of a new floor. Aside from trees, the majority of plants are yaupon, wild blueberry, and random brush. So, I'm not too worried about upsetting the ecosystem since it has been upset already. About the garden, while it is sandy, it is not a complete sandbox. It is, however, quite sandy and I am going to try and improve it with as much manure as possible, but am considering adding the forest floor material as well. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
Woods and forest are synonymous terms, although few people would refer to their stand of trees as a forest lot rather than a wood lot.
As I said, you can take that "duff" from the floor of the woods or forest as long as you understand you will be disrupting its ecosystem. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| fenbields5, Forest floor compost is great stuff, I use it for starting container plants, but it would take too much to really make an impact in garden areas. You might consider getting a few truckloads of wood chips and plowing them into your garden with lots of manure. I used wood chips in my clay soil and the worm population exploded. I could see lots of dark worm castings in the soil over a foot deep at the end of the season. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of soil amended with wood chips
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| I agree with the other comments and don't have much to add except that this reminded me of the story of Golden Gate Park, which was established in the late 1800s on an area that consisted mostly of sand dunes. When you see the park today you would never guess that all this beautiful landscaping, including huge lawns and the botanical garden, is growing out of ocean sand. The secret ingredient was horse manure, which was readily available in great quantities during this time. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| Last year I used some of the duff under the trees on my land to begin mulching my vegetable beds for the winter. I tried to be careful to not take too much from any one tree. It was a lovely mulch but, in the spring I discovered the draw back was that there were eggs laid in the duff and I had a much higher concentration of cut worms in vegetable garden than other areas. In your case, I would also pause. If you remove the duff, you will set back the rebuilding process on the soil in that area of the property. I would opt for outside inputs to get things started. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
- Posted by jolj 7b/8a-S.C.,USA (My Page) on
Wed, Dec 5, 12 at 19:26
All the forest I have gathered from, mostly hedge rows 25 feet wide have only about 2 inches of "humus" & it is full of bug,ants & roots. The upper layers of whole,semi-rotten & rotten leaves are fine for what you want.
An they will not be missed by the trees, as a forest fire will remove them anyways. Removal of loose organic waste is a way to control forest fires. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| claire, you sure have ruined my week. I used to harvest fresh seaweed for my garden, but I brought home so many live crabs and snails, it was upsetting to me. So, I switched to gathering the washed up seaweed, which I understand the impact of, but was able to justify to myself because a.) the seaweed is removed by the town anyway (people are actually encouraged to gather it) and b.)the seaweed washes up to a causeway that already impacts the shoreline. So far I haven't thought of any way to justify my continuing this practice. You've caused me a lot of heartache. |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
- Posted by claire z6b Coastal MA (My Page) on
Thu, Dec 6, 12 at 16:19
| annpat: If the town is going to remove the seaweed anyway, you might as well take it; it's not going to do any good if it's not left there. I wanted to raise the issue - people tend to think that washed up seaweed is just the beach's trash and they're doing the public a favor by cleaning up the sand. But just as people usually don't think of the damage done by taking duff from a forest (it's just wild woods), they don't realize that the wild shore also needs nourishment. You get more sensitive to the issue when you've seen the changes to a beach and the erosion of a coastal bluff over many years. Claire |
RE: Can I use forest humus as compost?
| | |
| It's kind of like mowing the grass and hauling it away to a dump. If they're going to do it anyway, why not take the bags off the curb? It's not ideal but at least it goes back to the soil. |
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in.
If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
