down into the rocky depths

Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:10 am

I'm going to transplant the 8' evergreen that's growing too close to the house. It was relatively warm today so I started on the hole- from what I recall, I need to dig it the diameter of the reach of the widest branches and a depth roughly half the height of the tree.
Don't know if anyone is interested in strange soil layers, but here's how mine is laid. There's about 5 inches of dirt, rock, and moss. Then you get to what I call "Potato Rocks"- they are about the size of a big baking potato, some quite a bit larger. These go down about a foot & a half, with a sandy soil in between. Then just when I'm about to despair of ever emptying a hole, I hit this coarse, yellowy grit with only a few potato rocks scattered through it. There's sometimes a layer of ash from the explosion of St. Helens under that, then some relatively nice, though rocky, almost-soil. That's as far as I got today, but it's a start anyhow.
I'll mix the almost-soil with composted bunny pellets to back fill around the tree. The best part of it all is that it will leave me a roughly 4' square of churned up soil in my front garden bed to put some new plantings in, woohoo! Get to spend all winter thinking of what to put there!
I pulled out the lilac shrub that came down in the last windstorm, and yipe, no wonder it hasn't looked too healthy! Something had bored through the wood, just under the soil surface. Going to have to look into exactly what it could be, so I don't lose the rest of the lilac.
Rotten, I studied all this stuff in school, but seem to have completely forgotten it, sigh.

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pondlady wrote on Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:17 am:

Good grief, Toni, you DID some work today. Hope the transplant works.

eileen wrote on Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:23 am:

Gosh Toni that sounds like a task and a half you have on your hands!! Don't overdo things though or you'll ache for days. I'm glad you, finally, managed to reach some semi-decent soil and I look forward to hearing what you decide to plant in place of your evergreen.

pondlady wrote on Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:42 am:

Oops, Mary, I called you Toni's name. I'm tired, can you tell? or maybe it's an alternate personality taking over.

reggaefan wrote on Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:46 am:

You did do a lot of work today Mary Toni.

CritterPainter wrote on Sun Nov 19, 2006 2:40 am:

LOL! OK, well, my big brother's name it Tony, woo, spooky!

glendann wrote on Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:41 am:

You are going to have to have help getting out of bed tomorrow.I know someone would have to help me out.I can't wait to see what you are going to put there.I wonder what did get into your lilac .If you find out what let us know ok.

eileen wrote on Sun Nov 19, 2006 10:56 am:

OOPS!!!!! Mary I hope you'll forgive me but I've called you Toni in my reply to your blog entry. It must have been another of my 'senior moments.' LOL