the best mulch for zone 19
 

My soil is really dense, very rich, and right now super soggy. tried a
google search and did not get too far. please help.

Someone wrote:

My soil is really dense, very rich, and right now super soggy. tried a
google search and did not get too far. please help.

I use fallen leaves to mulch my beds. I use them without chopping,
shredding, or composting. (But I also compost leaves.) The leaves
provide a cushion when it rains, keeping the soil from compacting.
In the summer, they keep the soil cool and moist. Evetually, they
form a compost (actually leafmold, which I think is better).

If your soil is really soggy, it might be clay. My soil is mostly
adobe clay, really heavy and sticky when wet. I broadcast a lot of
gypsum on the soil just before the rainy season (the "not so dry"
season here in southern California). It reacts with the clay to
make it somewhat porous, helping excess moisture to drain deeper.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

David Ross wrote:
Someone wrote:

My soil is really dense, very rich, and right now super soggy. tried a
google search and did not get too far. please help.


I use fallen leaves to mulch my beds. I use them without chopping,
shredding, or composting. (But I also compost leaves.) The leaves
provide a cushion when it rains, keeping the soil from compacting.
In the summer, they keep the soil cool and moist. Evetually, they
form a compost (actually leafmold, which I think is better).

If your soil is really soggy, it might be clay. My soil is mostly
adobe clay, really heavy and sticky when wet. I broadcast a lot of
gypsum on the soil just before the rainy season (the "not so dry"
season here in southern California). It reacts with the clay to
make it somewhat porous, helping excess moisture to drain deeper.

thank you very much. I think it is clay. It feels that way and it
packs down pretty badly. I am nervous about using leaves, the trees
seems like overgrown weeds next to the flowerbed I am working. Does
that matter?

the best mulch is the one that you like, that fits your budget, that is
available.

Toad

Someone wrote:
My soil is really dense, very rich, and right now super soggy. tried a
google search and did not get too far. please help.

It is not a good idea to walk on or work your soil when it is soggy.

--
Travis in Shoreline Washington

Someone wrote:
My soil is really dense, very rich, and right now super soggy. tried
a
google search and did not get too far. please help.
Can someone please tell me where is zone 19?????????

Dennis Hoy wrote:
Someone wrote:

My soil is really dense, very rich, and right now super soggy. tried

a

google search and did not get too far. please help.

Can someone please tell me where is zone 19?????????

los angeles

That's bullshit. You may be in zone 9, or even zone 10 (maybe), but
you sure aren't in zone 19. There is no zone 19.

Dennis Hoy wrote:
That's bullshit. You may be in zone 9, or even zone 10 (maybe), but
you sure aren't in zone 19. There is no zone 19.

There may be no USDA zone 19, but that doesn't mean there is no zone 19:

http://www.monrovia.com/MonroviaWeb.nsf/8c104835579b67e18825685f006acdf8/cb6449fed56a4706882569200080cd0c!OpenDocument

And I'll bet you make quite an impression of people with your ability to
drop some crude language at the drop of a hat.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Black & Decker Landscaping Tools:
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/Referen...mateZones.html

Sunset Zone 19 is in Southern California

That's bullshit. You may be in zone 9, or even zone 10 (maybe), but
you sure aren't in zone 19. There is no zone 19.


Try Sunset zones.

IntarsiaCo wrote:

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/Referen...mateZones.html

Sunset Zone 19 is in Southern California

The link you cite gives the following message:
"The page you requested is available only to magazine customers and
AOL members".

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 17:57:45 GMT, "Warren"
wrote:

And I'll bet you make quite an impression of people with your ability to
drop some crude language at the drop of a hat.


Radio man got quiet!
Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold

Dennis Hoy wrote:
That's bullshit. You may be in zone 9, or even zone 10 (maybe), but
you sure aren't in zone 19. There is no zone 19.

There is in Sunset magazine's system, which is at least as well known
to gardeners in southern California. Sunset divides mild-winter areas
according to microclimate, because this can make a big difference in
growing plants sensitive to dry air or even slight frost.

[Briefly, zone 19 is a zone with air drainage (thus less frost than
adjacent zone 18) and little or no marine influence (thus hotter and
less humid than adjacent zone 20). It is an ideal zone for citrus and
other frost-sensitive heat-dependent plantings, more challenging for
drought-sensitive things like evergreen azaleas.]

--
Chris Green

In article .com,
"Christopher Green" wrote:

Dennis Hoy wrote:
That's bullshit. You may be in zone 9, or even zone 10 (maybe), but
you sure aren't in zone 19. There is no zone 19.

There is in Sunset magazine's system, which is at least as well known
to gardeners in southern California. Sunset divides mild-winter areas
according to microclimate, because this can make a big difference in
growing plants sensitive to dry air or even slight frost.

[Briefly, zone 19 is a zone with air drainage (thus less frost than
adjacent zone 18) and little or no marine influence (thus hotter and
less humid than adjacent zone 20). It is an ideal zone for citrus and
other frost-sensitive heat-dependent plantings, more challenging for
drought-sensitive things like evergreen azaleas.]

Sounds like a good zone to build a semi-shading pergola from which to hang
orchid cacti.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com