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Posted on 5:55 PM by Wanto and filed under
By Michael Wright
It was the custom in the 'good old days' to grow apples, pears, plums and cherries as standard trees in a grass orchard, with sheep or cattle grazing underneath. Even today this custom is still being kept in some countries.
Cultivated chemically-fed soils deteriorate slowly to semi-desert conditions. The mistake however that many people made in the past was that they didn't realize that their grass must be kept cut. When turf is continually mow it returns more nitrogen to the soil than it takes up, but if it grows long the reverse is the case.
A friend of mine in South Africa always rots down his sawdust with molasses and yeast. He waters each layer with a dilution of molasses in water, adding the yeast at the same time. He could not, however, give me actual quantities and so I can only pass the information on as I received it.
Another South African friend of mine does his mulching of certain soft fruits with sodden newspaper. He composts this and then puts it all over the ground as a top dressing.
The grass mixture that I use, with great success, consists of 8 parts Timothy S.50, 3 parts Red Fescue S.59, 2 parts white clover 5.100, and 1 part wild white clover 5.194. This mixture can be sown at the rate of oz. to the sq. yard in a garden, and at the rate of 15 lb. per acre in the case of a commercial fruit farm.
Others who live near the seaside can collect seaweed and rot this down, either alone or with vegetable waste, and then apply this organic matter all over the surface of the ground as a mulch.
Cultivated chemically-fed soils deteriorate slowly to semi-desert conditions. The mistake however that many people made in the past was that they didn't realize that their grass must be kept cut. When turf is continually mow it returns more nitrogen to the soil than it takes up, but if it grows long the reverse is the case.
A friend of mine in South Africa always rots down his sawdust with molasses and yeast. He waters each layer with a dilution of molasses in water, adding the yeast at the same time. He could not, however, give me actual quantities and so I can only pass the information on as I received it.
Another South African friend of mine does his mulching of certain soft fruits with sodden newspaper. He composts this and then puts it all over the ground as a top dressing.
The grass mixture that I use, with great success, consists of 8 parts Timothy S.50, 3 parts Red Fescue S.59, 2 parts white clover 5.100, and 1 part wild white clover 5.194. This mixture can be sown at the rate of oz. to the sq. yard in a garden, and at the rate of 15 lb. per acre in the case of a commercial fruit farm.
Others who live near the seaside can collect seaweed and rot this down, either alone or with vegetable waste, and then apply this organic matter all over the surface of the ground as a mulch.
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To raise the pH of an overly acid soil, add finely ground limestone to your fruit tree garden.
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