Drought
tolerant doesn’t mean don’t water
Steven Fry claims that 50% of facts today turn out to be
untrue after a few years. He might be right, or that might be proved to be
wrong soon too.
It wasn’t that long ago that it was thought fact that the
continents were static. Recent enough for my brother to be wrapped on the
knuckles with a ruler at school for suggesting that they were probably joined
up in the distant past - That is was healthy to smoke , alcohol is “cooked out
of food” or that white chocolate is actually “chocolate”
I have found that myths have always been prevalent in the
gardening world as well and there’s always someone advising us to do different
things to the plants and soil. There have been a few myths following me around
for years though and I thought it was about time to dispel them.
Adding rich compost
when planting
The first think I want to look at is the myth about tree and
shrub planting. When planting a new tree or shrub we are told to replace the
soil in the planting hole with organic material such as compost. The problem is
when the new roots reach the edge of the planting hole and get to the native
soil. They will actually turn and circle back into the organic material at
great detriment to the plant. Moisture
will also be drawn away from the added compost. So use the original soil removed to backfill
after planting. Your trees and shrubs will do much better.
Organic material is
always good
It depends where organic material comes from. The problem is that some compost can harbour
pesticide residue or heavy metals. These contaminates are also sometimes found
in some manures from chickens and cattle. If compost contaminated with these
products were to be used in a vegetable garden the harvested veggies could
contain the chemicals. If you compost your garden waste, use only chemical free
materials. Do not compost grass clippings that have been chemically treated.
Epsom Salts
“Add Epsom salts to the soil for healthier plants.” I don’t
think so! Research shows it is only warranted in large-scale farming operations
where the soil has a proven magnesium deficiency. Home garden use of Epsom salt
(magnesium sulfate) can be seen as irresponsible when the actual soil condition
hasn’t been tested.
Sugar or Baking Soda
for Sweeter Tomatoes
The sweetness of a tomato is determined primarily by the
type of tomato and photosynthesis. They cannot acquire sweetness from soil. Save
your baking soda for cleaning the house and the sugar for baking.
Egg Shells for
Calcium
Egg shells are great for enriching compost but take a long
time to break down. Crush them into bits to help speed up the process, but
don’t expect them to transform a plant in a single season, it’ll take years.
Egg Shells for
Discouraging Slugs
No they don’t! I’ve seen many a slug and snail crawl over a
pile of crushed shells. Save them for the compost bin to slowly break down and
add calcium to the soil (It’ll take years but it’s a better use of them, after
all would you want to put shells around every plant in the garden)
Coins or Copper for
Discouraging Slugs
If this did work the slugs would just move to another plant,
the same goes for beer traps and grapefruit, these will attract the slugs but
chances are you will need to go out there and finish the job. Bucket of water
at the ready if you don’t have hens.
Coffee Grounds
This is one of the few popular myths where we could actually
find some evidence to substantiate it. Yes, coffee grounds are good for the
garden but all the talk of changing the pH of the soil (it’s a complex topic
and requires proper analysis) and miraculous growth spurts is really
overstating it. Coffee grounds provide beneficial nitrogen, but you need a
variety of things for healthy compost and soil. Add your coffee grounds to the
compost pile and keep it balanced with a mixture of other green and brown items.
And just before I finish this week , here are a few more to
think about, but remember if what Stephen Fry says is true, most of these will
be proved wrong in 10 years time!
- Knock the tops of onions over to make larger bulbs.-This actually stops the bulbs forming.
- Plant peas and potatoes on St. Patrick’s day.-There are no specific calendar dates suited to all gardening zones: the best timing depends on your growing zone and soil warmth.
- Pinch blooms off annuals before planting. - I don’t think so. All you get then is time to wait for new blooms to form.
- If a plant is under stress, it should be fed. -Fertilizer is not the answer for many plant stresses (compacted roots, poor drainage, overwatering, and so on). Determine the cause of the problem and then resolve it. Poor nutrition is often not the cause.
- Add sand to loosen heavy, clay soil. - It actually causes more problems. So does double digging. Been there, double dug that.
- Drought-tolerant plants don’t need to be watered.- They’re tolerant, not dead. Yes, they need water.
