For Immediate Release:

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Much Ado about Top Soil
There are many things that we can do to protect our trees and our property, but nothing is as important as having soil, living soil. There is a big difference between topsoil and subsoil. What most people have in Malibu and in most places in California where there is clay soil is not top soil but subsoil. What is left after the topsoil is gone? Also, since we have decided to live in an area that usually has very little top soil but instead rocks (that’s what you get when you little wet the clay soil then heat. It is is that way because the Santa Anna’s will come through and blow away any soil and mulch you lay down.
The other day at a customer’s house, the gardener was telling me how they have to water three or four times per week to keep things alive. Indeed her fruit trees were already looking like they were dying due to lack of water! How can they be the owner said to me. We water every day now and its still looking like this! She also stated that they added a 2-inch layer of wood chips and that it looked great and she did not understand how come the wood chips did not protect the soil from the sun?
Wood chips do very little to help the ground. Yes, they can protect to a small degree, but the wood chips will not stop the soil from heating up and losing whatever water it has. Thus even if you watered every day, the water would just run through the rocks, and it would dry out the next day, and one of the worse things to do to a tree or any plant is top water every day. Their soil needs time to absorb the water and then to properly dry out otherwise you will be drowning the roots and any microbes that are left in the ground. When this happens, the tree or plant will have a severe reduction in nutrition and the will reduce Brix levels which will, in turn, increase pest and that in turn increases the diseases!
Phew, I need to rest!
Right now, it is not too late to start doing what is right by the soil and the trees. You should be adding good clean top soil (try Peach Hill Soils in Moorpark) with clean live compost (try Rico’s Organics in Ventura/Malibu). Mix equal amounts, add a small amount of the following – different sources of rock dust (for the minerals), a good organic fertilizer with microbes, Sul-Pol-Mag (a natural source of sulfur, potassium, and magnesium), gypsum (high in sulfur), colloidal soft rock phosphate. Then mulch over with azalea/gardenia mix which will protect the soil from the sun and also help to acidify the soil (our clay soil is 7.2 to 7.4 ph which is way too high).
You really should have applied thighs during the winter months; then the soil would have absorbed all that nice rain we had.
Another thing that is important is to protect the soil from the high winds or heavy rains, or you will be left with nothing. So make beds out of rocks that hold the soil in. Learn to use drip lines that you can either bury or lay down on top. Burying is best just remember that they will need to be changed in about 10 years because they will naturally get clogged or damaged.
Once you have this setup, I would install tree vents around the property. This is a pipe that goes down about 6 feet into the soil and takes the water down with it. At first, you will have to go slow and allow the water to penetrate deeper into the soil, increasing the time as it can handle it. Inside the tree vents, you should add compost, rock dust and lots of microbes to encourage the microbial life to grow. I would place a 2 gallon per hour drop head on top. Each tree should get 4 of these placed at 12, 1, 6 and 9 O’clock. Put a green grate on top. Add a new mixture once every 6 months. In here, you can also place a good organic fertilizer. This is also a good place to add compost tea on regular monthly basis. The compost tea should be energized by running a blubber through it to increase microbial activity. I add Superseaweed to the vents to make this a very active microbial colony.
It is important to have enough top soil on your property if you want your trees and everything that is growing there to survive the heat spells and other wet winters. The top soil acts as a cushion and prevents wild swings in the soil temp and water levels. No top soil is terrible and will only lead to diseases and pests and loss of your trees. Once trees start to decay, only a knowledge Arborists that understand what is happening can help you. It is not a good idea to chemicals fertilize as that will only cause more stress and increases their decay. Trees will get bark beetles and other pests once their Brix levels start to drop and only by raising the Brix Levels and keeping them above a certain level, will you be able to hold off diseases and pests as we’ll as to prevent them from attacking in the first place. A good layer of top soil will also keep your property from getting hard pan. I would add a fertilization unit (try EzyFlow) into the sprinkler system and then add compost tea to the unit. It will then go out through all the drip lines and sprinklers, thereby increasing microbial activity.
Any questions leave me a comment.
Love
andy Lopez
Invisible Gardener
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