On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 19:00:17 GMT, "Doria" wrote:

I have a huge extremely rocky area and I am not sure what will grow best.
The soil is alkaline and is full of weeds. All suggestions are welcome.
Jennifer

How huge is "huge"? I ask because (don't laugh!) you might want to
bring in some rent-a-goats to do away with the weeds, rather than rent
machinery. It's being tried by government entities in some places with
success.

How rocky is "extremely rocky"? Are they big boulders or small rocks.
How deeply dug in are the rocks? Could they be removed by hand
labor?

If so, and if you are willing to spring for a large quantity of soil
modifiers, and are willing to wait at least a season for the
conditioners to change the PH of the soil, no reason why you couldn't
grow whatever your climate permits.

You would probably need to use a heavy-duty tiller or some equivalent
machine to really dig up and turn the earth, so it will better absorb
the nutrients and other modifiers from the conditioners you put in.

In any case, once the weeds are gone and the soil modifiers are
introduced, you could sow a "green manure" crop like alfalfa,
which fixes atmospheric nitrogen into the soil.

Sounds like a marvelous project -- to transform a "wasteland"
into a productive piece of earth. You will need some faith and a lot
of persistence -- but it can be done!

Good luck.

--

Persephone