GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Putting an existing "natural area" into production

Philip Semanchuk · 24-01-2007, 04:51 PM posted to triangle.gardens

In article ,
wrote:

On 2007-01-17, CD wrote:
Thanks for the advice Philip. Happy gardening!

as I posted earlier I have to disagree. The pine straw is free and
after one season you can't tell composted leaves tilled in from
composted needles.

Hi Wes,
After our bodies are done composting a meal, all food looks pretty much
the same, right? But obviously that doesn't mean we get the same amount
of nutrients out of everything we eat. Similarly, I would not rely on
visual inspection to judge the value of leaves versus needles versus
anything else as a soil amendment. Just because *we* can't tell the
difference after one season doesn't mean the plants can't.

If you could dig up a reference to the Mother Earth News article you
cite, I'd appreciate that and would like to read it. It surprises me
that the pH balances over time and maybe my intuition about the relative
nutrient value of one amendment versus another is also wrong. If the
article covers that, I'd be happy to adjust my thinking.

Cheers
--
Philip Semanchuk
email: first name @ last name.com