- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 4 months ago by .
-
Posts
-
We have a family allotment – on an old neglected one from last year, having swapped to be nearer where we live – and there is very limited opportunity to capture and store rainwater. Apart from watering in new seedlings and larger plants, and carrying water after a dry spell to water soil around plants only, is there any way we can improve the humidity of the soil without encouraging more weed growth and pest proliferation?
It’s a fairly high-proportion of clay soil, tendency to clump and lump and also very stony. A lot of weeds; we don’t have a lot of organic material available for the plot as we live in a flat – can eg newsprint be toxic to plants/animals? – for mulching – are there some plants more resistant to extremes of dry spells then – it is Brittany after all – too much rain and waterlogged soil? Some suggestions on aspects of watering would be helpful.
Very interested in no-dig methods – for permaculture principles as much as backache – so how does the watering aspect work there, as Nature seems to make do with climate and adapt plants for the conditions prevailing.
Leaving the soil as undisturbed as possible means the capillary structure remains intact and roots have better access to lower reserves of moisture.
However, plant roots also like surface moisture! so mulching with paper and cardboard helps, (cardboard is easier to handle and weight down) except that in wet summers, too much mulching with unrotted organic matter can allow slugs to proiliferate under them. Hence the use of compost, a shame you do not have any. Also keeping soil clean of weeds helps contain moisture.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.