- Author: Jane Callier
Healing the Earth by Healing the Soil – Maximize Living Roots, Minimize Soil Disturbance
This is the third post in this series following concepts and information from UC Master Gardeners of Napa County presentation, “Soil is the Solution, healing the earth one yard at a time,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqA8DqBtRuo . The presentation describes practices we can learn and implement about soil to help slow and ultimately reverse the damage humankind has done. Previous posts were May 24 & June 7, 2021.
It's easy to see how a healthy mass of roots benefits a plant, but there is a lot more going on with roots than making a healthy plant. Roots need carbon to grow and plants have the capability of drawing carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, of course, is a major contributor to greenhouse gas and global warming.
What we're looking at when we inspect healthy roots is not just roots themselves. Through photosynthesis plants create carbon sugars to feed their own growth and deliver it to the soil via their roots.
As roots exude carbon sugar, mycorrhizal fungi are drawn to them, and the active chemistry and microbiology that happens between them in this narrow area around the roots is called the rhizosphere. Part of the mycorrhizae are their hyphae, garden hose like structures that can extend 300 yards. They attach to roots, creating an immense root system. Mycorrhizae metabolize more root sugar, plants grow, pull down more carbon from the atmosphere, and roots transfer minerals absorbed from the soil into the plant. Both plants and soil structures benefit from the interaction.
We're looking at a soil biome that we might compare to a bustling city: busy freeways, construction workers and lots of food trucks and bistros. What happens when we don't have plants, roots and microorganisms creating all this life in the soil and performing this scientific, yet magical dance? As one of the presenters commented, “without (it) we just have geology.”
Organically grown food from a biome we just described has a higher nutritional value. Several minerals are present in significantly higher amounts that contribute to overall health and help combat inflammatory ailments like Alzheimer's and heart disease.
Holding it all together
We have already learned that tilling the soil grinds up the soil biome, destroys microorganisms in our bustling soil community and leaves us only dirt, or, as mentioned above, “geology.”
The soil fungi hyphae in healthy soil make a protective coating called glomalin that literally holds the soil together, making soil into an aggregate. A healthy biome without aggregated soil cannot exist. A demonstration in the presentation made this easy to understand. One plate had a mound of flour on it representing tilled soil. Next to it was a plate with a piece of bread on it representing aggregated soil. Water poured on the flour ran off, penetrating nothing. The bread absorbed the water as does aggregated soil, keeping carbon, nitrogen and minerals in the ground. Aggregated soil has been likened to a “carbon sponge.”
We can create aggregated soil to maximize living roots by planting perennials and trees, both having roots that stay in the ground for a long time. A vegetable garden can be intercropped, that is, planting seedling cool season vegetables beside mature warm season crops that are nearing the end of their harvest. Becoming more and more popular is the practice of planting perennial fruits and vegetables. Common ones are artichokes, asparagus and strawberries. The goal is to have roots in the ground year-round. Our soil has degenerated to such an extent that the establishment of more plants and their roots can be a lifeline as the earth's climates heat up.
We need to overcome the habit of tilling the soil. As much as possible, we need to leave soil intact. Soil is made up of sand, silt or clay, water and air. Only 5% of soil is made of organic matter. Of this 5%, only 5% is made of living organisms. This is indeed a precious commodity, and most of it occurs in topsoil, the top two inches of soil.
Our takeaways are these:
- Protect our soil biome and the rhizosphere.
- Keep the soil aggregate intact and functional.
- Retain healthy topsoil and protect it from erosion.
Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.
Photo credits: Pixabay
- Author: Jane Callier
Use compost, not chemicals
This is the second post in this series following concepts and information from UC Master Gardeners of Napa County presentation, “Soil is the Solution, healing the earth one yard at a time,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqA8DqBtRuo . The presentation describes practices we can learn and implement about soil to help slow and ultimately reverse the damage humankind has done. The first post was May 24, 2021.
Using a military analogy, a reconnaissance mission is our first task. Once a pest has been properly identified, determine the number of pests and the extent of damage they are causing. Next, deploy a combination of biological, cultural, mechanical, and chemical management tools into combat. IPM almost always uses a combination of management techniques instead of dependence on only one method. While one of the goals of IPM is to reduce chemical applications, there are times where the best strategy involves the use of pesticides, but careful timing and the amount applied is critical to reduce the impact to non-target species and environmental degradation. For more complete descriptions of IPM's management tools see http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/
The use of chemical fertilizer gets us nothing as we endeavor to improve our soil. We might get plants that we can liken to a weightlifter pumped up on steroids, but take that away and we have some mediocre to sickly looking plants. Plants grown in healthy soil sustain themselves. It can be argued that on a molecular level, the primary nutrients of nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) are the same in both chemical fertilizer and in natural fertilizer. True, but if we leave out the fundamental operation that healthy soil provides to plants, (remember we get healthy soil by applying compost, whose organic elements nurture microorganisms,) we short circuit the natural process that mother nature has used for millennia. Instead of feeding plants, we need to feed the soil. From there, what nature intended will take over and the soil will feed the plants.
In the presentation, a convincing example illustrated how composted soil is the best nourishment plants can have. The experiment showed the biomass of root systems of borage plants grown using different methods of fertilization. The first example was the control, plants grown not using any product, had a root system that looked pretty good. Example two used synthetic fertilizer and there was almost no root system at all. The third example used an organic product; its roots looked about the same as using nothing at all. The fourth example was grown in composted soil. This plant's root system was the lucky winner. The roots formed an impressively large, healthy looking mass. That's what nature intended.
Master Gardeners are following recommended social distancing guidelines that keep everyone safe, Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.
Resources:
Photo credits: UC IPM video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJeEVQm-9uE
On October 1, 2020 the UC Master Gardeners of Napa County and the City of Napa Parks & Recreation celebrated the groundbreaking of the Las Flores Learning Garden in Napa. Starting with a small area, the garden will eventually extend over the entire property adjacent to the Las Flores Community Center.
Covid-19 restrictions prevented many Master Gardener volunteers from lending a hand to plant 200+ plants in late November, but small groups, working in shifts were able to install the plants within a 4-hour window.
The UC Master Gardeners will use this area of the garden to inform and educate the Community with research-based information on the care and maintenance of each particular type of vegetation.
Educational materials are being created daily and will soon be loaded onto the UCMG public website https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmgnapa/ Las Flores Learning Garden page. We hope you stop by the facility and check out the information on our website to get the full benefit from this wonderful addition to our beautiful valley.
Arbutus unedo
Strawberry Madrone
https://selectree.calpoly.edu/tree-detail/arbutus-unedo
Lagerstroemia indica 'Catawba'
Crape Myrtle
https://selectree.calpoly.edu/tree-detail/lagerstroemia-indica-catawba
Abelia grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope'
Kaleidoscope Abelia
https://www.sunsetwesterngardencollection.com/the-collection/plant/kaleidoscope
Arctostaphylos edmundsii
Little Sur Manzanita
https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/arctostaphylos-edmundsii
Arctostaphylos 'Emerald Carpet'
Emerald Carpet Manzanita
https://www.calfloranursery.com/plants/arctostaphylos-emerald-carpet
Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers'
Meyerei fern
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=241940
Cornus sericea 'Olive and Gold'
Yellow Twig Dogwood
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c330
Loropetalum chinense
Red Loropetalum
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=263296
Muhlenbergia capillaris
Pink Muhly Grass
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b457
Olea Europa 'Little Ollie'
Little Ollie olive
https://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/1894/little-ollie-dwarf-olive
Trachelospermum jasminoides
Star Jasmine
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a155
Master Gardeners are following recommended social distancing guidelines that keep everyone safe, Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.
Photo credits: Plans by UC Master Gardeners of Napa County
UC Master Gardeners of Napa County are keeping busy in their own gardens during the Covid-19 pandemic. Summer is here and there's a lot going on in the garden! Here's how Master Gardeners are spending their time:
by Penny Pawl
The map shows the range of these tiny little guys in California. Orange is the range of the Sierran Treefrog.
Reference/Photo credits:treefrog: FrancoFolini, (CC BY-SA 2.0)
map, California Herps-tree frogs
http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/frogsid/treefrogs.id.html
Master Gardeners are following recommended social distancing guidelines that keep everyone safe, Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.
by Cindy Watter
My yard tends to the messy side, and I used to jokingly call it a wildlife habitat. With a little planning and effort, however, I have attracted even more creatures and improved the appearance of my yard. Most of these plants are easy care perennials, too.
Informational links:
Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site http://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/
Purple Passionflower Passiflora incarnata L. https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_pain6.pdf
Monarda fistulosa https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_mofi.pdf
UCANR-Lavenders of California https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8135.pdf
Missouri Botanical Garden-Agastache 'Blue Boa'
San Francisco Botanical Garden-Tagetes Lemmonii
Xerces Society-Native Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) https://xerces.org/milkweed
Cabbage White - Pieris rapae https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Pieris-rapae
Lorquin's Admiral https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Limenitis-lorquini
Swallowtail https://www.butterfliesathome.com/swallowtail-butterflies.htm
Monarch https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Danaus-plexippus
Gulf fritillary https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Agraulis-vanillae
Master Gardeners are following recommended social distancing guidelines that keep everyone safe, Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.
Photo credits: Wikimedia commons public domain