Gardening Myths Exploded

Amy Meyer, Ichabod, Mrs. Ichabod, Brett Meyer
Overlook - Snoquamie Falls.

We talked about gardening on our trip, so it reminded me of gardening myths that keep getting repeated, often by gardening books and articles. The myths are in blue.

Clay soil is bad.
Clay is my favorite. Electrical charges move nutrients, and clay has most ability to do that. Clay can be heavy and difficult to dig at times, but that can be fixed with organic material feeding the soil creatures.

For comparison, let’s put things into a more familiar perspective. If a clay particle were the size of a marigold seed, a silt particle would be a large radish , and a sand grain would be a large garden wheelbarrow . Another way to look at soil texture is to visualize a gram (about a teaspoon’s worth) of sand, spread out one-particle deep; this would cover an area about the size of a silver dollar . If you were to spread an equal amount of clay one-particle thick, you would need a basketball court— and some of the stands surrounding it, at that. 

What difference does texture make? The size of the particles has everything to do with their surface area and the surface area of the pore spaces between individual particles. Clay has tremendous surface area compared to sand. Silt is in between. Clay has smaller pore spaces between particles, but many more pore spaces in total, so the surface area of the pore spaces in clay is greater than silt, which is greater than sand. Incidentally, organic matter, usually in the form of humus, is comprised of very minute particles that, like clay, have lots of surface area to which plant nutrients attach, thus preventing them from leaching out. Humus also holds capillary water. 

Jeff; Lowenfels, (2010-09-10). Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition (Kindle Locations 442-450). Timber Press. Kindle Edition. 

The best way to lighten clay is to add earthworms, compost, and mulch.

Start by rototilling the garden area, or  tilling the leaves into the soil.
The rototiller is a bad idea, because God created the soil. We don't plant bulbs upside-down. Well, some of you do, but most of us do not. Top soil is created by the creatures God designed for the upper foot of soil.

No-dig is crucial because delicate fungi and fragile soil creatures do most of the work in bringing nutrition to the plant roots. I used to think staying off the garden was to protect the roots, and that is correct. But it is even more important for the soil itself.

Everything above the soil surface will be pulled down and moved around by soil creatures until the soil has a complete meal.

When the feeding is done, the organic material on top remains as a mulch, a spongy blanket to hold water, and a larder to store food for the future.

Watering in bright sunlight will burn plant leaves and grass.
Hahahahahaha. Water is cooling, and the drops of water cannot form a burning death ray to kill plants. Nevertheless, my no-dig hero passed on this anti-logical clunker. No one is right all the time about gardening advice.

Adding fertilizer and various dry compounds to the soil
In a few words - inorganic compounds pass through the soil and pollute the water tables. There is a superficial difference, but the inorganic salts also kill and drive away soil creatures. Green up grass by mulching the grass as it is cut, by a mulching lawnmower.

Epsom Salts are promoted for improving the soil, and they can help "old" soil. I have spread some around, but once again it is the question of usable nutrition.

When we had rabbits I spread rabbit droppings on the lawn just before a rain. Regular mowing is doing the same while knocking out most weeds.

The companies have little packets of natural additions to the soil. They know how much people want to go organic. My idea is - the smaller and brighter the packaging, the bigger the robbery is.

Our own surroundings give us the best and cheapest additions to the soil. I had a rotting, wet cardboard box.That went into the compost too.

Garden insects are EEVUL
A few of them are damaging, but they are also food for other insects and birds. Most insects are beneficial. Unpopular birds--like the starlings--are great in eating pests. As one gardener observed, there are no natural enemies inside the house, so we have to kill them somehow. Outside, there are plenty of natural enemies. Therefore, do not use insecticide in the garden.

Cutworms attacked my borage plants, so I pulled out the plants and threw them away. The cutworms did not affect the nearby roses. We had grasshoppers on the roses, but no real damage. A healthy plant shakes off insect damage, but insecticide stops the processes established by Creation.

Bird Feeders Lead to Birds Starving During Vacations
I loaded up my feeders before leaving for Seattle. However, birds do not depend on us for food. They enjoy a supplement, and feeding them will make their lives easier during nesting. We enjoy them chirping at our bedroom window, which we open as often as possible.

Mulch is the best and biggest bird feeder. I add sunflower seeds on the ground and in the feeder, and I I look for other foods (berries and nuts) to add to the mix. Multiple bird baths are more important than food provided.

Weeds Are Eevul - Spray, Salt, and Suds Them Up
Keep calm and put down the spray. Ignore the homemade herbicides too.

Crab grass was brought over as a grain. It still is a grain. If you let it grow in the corner, it will feed birds. Hate it? Mow the lawn every week and cover crabgrass with newspaper in the garden. There - feel better? Weeds hate mowing and well-fed grass (mulching mower) will fill in the open places favored by weeds.

Dandelions were brought to America as herbs. They still are herbs. Birds use the downy seed parachutes in their nests. The taproots are good for the soil. They have attractive flowers. One bloomed in our backyard on December 15th.

A lot of groundcover weeds in this area have attractive flowers. They grow, bloom, seed, and fade away. Any herbicide is going to kill surrounding plants and soil creatures.

Our grandson used the car washer tool on the hose to suds up a rose plant. I thought it was cute, but the rose plant conked - Bella Vista. Gardening on a mountain is a disaster, so I did not mind. Grandchildren are always cute anyway.

Weeds like goosefoot can be eaten. Almost all weeds serve some good purpose. The big bossy ones can be grown in a wild area that other creatures enjoy.

We stayed at the inn next to the falls,
and our balcony overlooked the scenic beauty.

Amy's New Rose Garden. Easy for Those Who Believe in Creation

Peace is one of the all-time favorites from
a master rose developer.

Amy is planning a new rose garden, so here are the steps to take, in order, for that yard, suitable for most other yard.

• Location. The best place is one where everyone will see them most of the time. I prefer the East side of the house, which is perfect for this yard.
• Regal standing. The rose is the royal flower of the garden and should not be mixed up with equals, because there are no equals. There can be subordinate plants, like garlic or garlic chives, or bulbs that grow before the roses bloom. Therefore, a row of roses - better yet - rows of roses are best.
• Order them now. I counted room for seven, which is a good start for one or two types. Regan Nursery has the best list of 1000+ roses, with concise descriptions. I often order from Jackson and Perkins, because they have leftover roses for $10 if I have already ordered earlier.
• Selection. I thought Peace was blackspotty, but perhaps not. The idea is to order one or two types and take care of them. Double Delight is a new favorite. The Regan Nursery site is good because it is possible to search by aroma, etc. Peace has none. DD does.
• Planting Bare Root Roses. Amy has the best conditions - clay soil where grass is growing. When the roses arrive, holes should be dug at regular intervals (say 36 from each center) in the lawn. Forget all that crazy stuff about soaking them first, adding fertilizer - even if many roses survive the foolishness. Plant them on a tepee of soil, cutting the extra long and broken roots. Fill the hole with good soil and water them generously to settle down the soil. Keep the soil damp until the new leaves pop out.
• Jackson Mulch the rose garden. This will turn the lawn in the rose garden into the best compost possible. The nitrogen is there. Soil creatures are abundant. Dying grass and roots will do 100x more for the rose garden than osterizing the soil with a rototiller. Jackson Mulch consists of a good layer of newspapers, 100% coverage, with a heavy layer of wood based mulch on top of the newspapers. Leaves or compost could also be used on the newspapers, but a wood mulch is more attractive. This double layer will keep shallow rooted and deep rooted weeds from growing. The mulch will hold moisture in, reduce black spot, and attract birds. Soil creatures and fungi do most of the work in feeding plants, and they love mulch too.
• Uncle Jim's Red Wigglers. I am very happy with Uncle Jim's, but there are many red wiggler suppliers. Night crawlers are deep diggers, while red wigglers are most active in compost, which is what we create with Jackson Mulch. I will order another 2,000 to scatter among all my gardens. They reproduce very quickly and spread. They love compost, mulch, moisture, all organic material. Red wigglers will take soil with great potential and make it even better. In clay they will provide a lot more tunnels and casts (manure) to lighten the soil. They multiply the nutrients that roses need and sweeten the soil.
• Prune. Roses love to be pruned. Each pruning makes them grow more roots and blooms. The blooms want to go to seed, so letting them stay on the plant will slow down the plant. One can prune extra buds, too, to give more energy to the remaining buds. Prune away dead wood, broken parts, and crossing branches. If black spot appears, take away all affected leaves and perhaps cut away bad branches. Always prune away dead wood. John 15:1-10.
• Stay bird friendly. Suet and mulched areas feed the most desirable birds, and they devour insects. Birds especially want to bathe, so multiple shallow dishes are ideal for them. We had no insect damage on the roses all summer, and we did not spray.

Four Double Delight bushes are better than one each of
four varieties. Planting groups of roses will yield better
displays and bouquets.