On Oct 27, 11:48*am, Zanahoria
wrote:
--
Zanahoria
--
Many REAL gardeners prefer to amend the soil rather than use the
fast fix of Miracle Gro. *So since you have time ahead of you, perhaps
you could work on amending your clayey soil. *I garden in an area of
adobe (clay) soil, so I work on adding compost, worm castings,
other elements that change the pH toward the cidic. *Easy to
research on-line, using keywords like "amend alkaline/clay soil",
"change pH" & so forth.--
--
The time invested will pay off hugely down the line. *Meantime,
your canes will probably be very happy in the containers with loamy
composted soil.--
--
If you're worried about their being alive, just scratch along the cane
with your fingernail. *You should see green if they''re alive. *But
why wouldn't they be, dormant or not?--
--
So don't panic; you have plenty of time to do your research. *Just
send good thoughts, and adequate but not too much water to
your future raspberry bushes. *(Mouth is watering...)--

HB

Thanks Higgs.

I intend to when I start preparing my vegetable patch in January. I did
not think it was appropriate to start that kind of thing until after
Winter? I did not realise the ground in my garden was so compact and
sodden...

I have a compost bin bubbling away in the garden and my Aunt has three
horses and a chicken farm so I'll be asking her to stockpile some manure
for me in December :P Hopefully that, compost, some double-digging and
whatever you can buy to break up clay will do the trick.

No I know they're alive now, I was just thinking if they don't do anything
i.e. dormant until March that's 5 months as just some sticks poking in the
mud... how do you know they're doing OK? Will their rootballs grow? if so
I might buy some bigger pots to put them, if not, I'll just leave them
where they are.

--
Zanahoria[/i][/color]

***Wonderful about the compost bin and the chicken manure. But try to
utilize the chickie-doo-doo only after it has had a chance to --
what? age? cure?
*** Point being that very fresh chicken manure is really dynamite and
could possibly burn plants. Auntie probably knows this g

HB