Fran wrote:
"pete" wrote in message


I've just started to rejuvinate one of
the lowest and saltiest areas of my block (all my block is salty some
areas worse than others)
this is probably one of the worst bits and it was compact and sour
looking,


How do you do that Pete (other than platning salt bush)?


Energy input ... way too much, the work I've been doing has meant using
the tractor and ute a lot for digging and carting of mulch etc, plus
wayyyy too much hoeing and raking for my liking, but eventually it will
be worth it as the input will be minimum apart from moving manure from
the nearby horse yards onto the garden.


Or is this how you did it?
Hi Fran
Yep pretty much ... the area was almost solid and hadn't grown anything
for years, some samphire had grown in a couple of the lower depressions
that held rainwater long enough for it to evaporate and leave salt
crusted in them.

Other parts where compact, smooth and sloped slightly which meant water
had no chance of soaking in but contributed to the flat bottom areas
salt build up.

I have an old 1953 Grey Fergie (although she's red and silver now) with
part of a set of harrows just wide enough to cover Fergies wheel width,
so I worked along the (slight) contours and across the slight slope to
loosen up the hard pan, this I did back in August when there was still
the chance of some rains before the hot weather (ha !!! we've had more
rain this last week than most of winter) ... anyhoo ... I shifted all
last years hoss manure down into the area and most of the spoiled hay
(we use big round bales so get a good bit of mulch out of them).

So basically it's hoss muck and spoiled hay with newspaper and cardboard
and now some bits of green vegetation as I break off half earwig chewed
silver beet leaves and add em to a compost heap and hoe up any growth
from the hay, if it has seed heads I chuck it in the compost/earwig trap
pile, otherwise I just let it rot back down where it grew.

The Old Man Salt bush I planted to the North of where I'm working ...so
its almost in the centre of the patch running in a line East/West to
eventually protect this area from the hot northerlies, this salt bush is
actually running DOWN the slight slope but at 90 degrees to the rip
lines if you can get the drift of that ....so the plants get their own
furrow rather than a line of them planted in one furrow...

The other half of the patch I think I'll try some North South Plantings
because further North yet again is the Horse stables so that area will
have some protection from that side but has a more open aspect as far as
Westerly (winter) winds go.

I've tried OM salt bush for windbreaks before and its great, although
I've usually planted it too close and its ended up taking over and using
all the water, what I tend to do now is fracture the stems as they grow
up but (hopefully) leaving them still attached and lay them down on the
ground from where they shoot maybe 4/5 new shoots upward which I do the
same with, that way I can keep em contained and as they grow I lay some
of the higher stems horizontally to intertwine with the plants next to
em ..and they form a hedge rather than straggly woody single plants.

I've yet to strike the perfect balance between windbreak and water
usage, I'm hoping this area (cos parts of it are almost always wet under
the top 6 inches or so) will sustain the salt bush while letting me
actually water only the veggies, I know I can grow this plant well
enough to be a total pain in the bum ... some old ones are 8 feet high
and a couple of plants which I had next to the old worm beds have joined
to make a huge "shrub" which is possibly 7-8 feet high and 20 feet
across, no doubt the run off from the worm beds helped a little but it
hasnt shown signs of slowing down since I stopped actively breeding the
worms and is only contained on one side because as it grows to the edge
of the driveway it gets run over ....

So .... I can grow it .... problem is controlling it to do what I want
it to do without it using too much water needed for the veggies. When we
had the goats they of course pruned whatever they laid eyes on but thats
not an option now so its a matter of me breaking off branches and
chucking em into the hoss yards for them to pick over, after that I pile
em in an area (yes another low spot) for crushing with my mates bob cat
wheels as he brings me grass clippings or firewood ... actually got Palm
trees growing in that area because of the seeds from some pruning job
.... but thats another story for another day ....

Now folks walk by this area and say "OMG Veggies" !!! and I ask em if
they can remember what that area was like last year ..some can't of
course which sort of bursts my balloon ... but some can and are amazed
that anything is growing there. ... but most can at least see that its a
low area and on my block thats low...

So to answer your question .........Yes :-)

Pete