Ammending clay soil - Help

Tea is addictive, the people are less likely !
And I still want my Tetley to be hot in August, when it is 105F. Period.

I don't know about the average tea drinkers but I am addicted. The sad truth is that I've realized I'm addicted to the sugar, not the caff. I like decaf as well as I do high octane......just as long as it's sweet! I use calorie free sweeteners sometimes but if I go for long without my sugar fix, I get a headache. I drink hot and/or cold tea year-round. If it's hot, I drink it...if it's cold, I drink it. I drink it without ice, though, because I don't like it watered down. I make a pitcher every morning and drink several cups hot and then refrigerate the remainder, which is depleted before I load the dishwasher every evening after dinner. I'm starting to feel like I'm in a 12 step program here! My name is Sharon.. and I'm addicted! LOL

JamesCo... I like your painting. :o)

Thanks.
My n-name is K-Kenton, and I am a t-t-tea addict.
Have you tried stevia? The only sweetened tea I like is my own homemade Chai. It has four ingredients and four ways to knock a person in that desirable way.

LOL... I know this needs to be on a different forum... but addictions are hard to break and can consume you! No, I'm not a specialty tea taster... I'm just a plain brown sipper! I do like some flavored tea for a novelty but I always return to my same ol'... let's see, how did ARDESIA put it earlier... 'sickeningly sweet tea'.

This message was edited Feb 7, 2006 8:19 AM

Well, some of it can gag you with the sugar. Do you have Bojangles (fast food chicken) in Franklin Springs? My husband loves their tea. It is so sweet I think there is more sugar than water and tea in the glass. Bit, it sure goes down well on a muggy day when you are hot and sweaty - Oh, excuse me I meant when you are hot and "glistening". We all know southern ladies do not sweat.

LOL... yes, we do have a Bojangles and you're right. Actually, DH and I ate there yesterday and he commented AGAIN about how sweet their tea is. I am the one who likes the 'sweet' in our family but I have to admit, it is almost 'too sweet' for me. I put ice in it and that helps to dilute it some. I'm a lifetime southern lady, but I could go for some good 'glistening' right now. We've just moved here from Florida, I am FREEZING!

Teateacher, (feb 1 message)
You recommnded the book "Tough Plants for Southern Gardeners" by Felder Rushing. Well, it just arrived and I am already on my second go through. Just wanted to say thanks for a great suggestion. This book will accompany me on my many trips to local nurseries. Have a great (unfortunately cold) day!
Liz

Gliz, I have some experience with your GA Clay, I do some Commercial landscape work in the area. Let me give you 10 years worth of Commercial Shrub, perennial, and tree installation in the GA region, advice.

1) Amending Clay is fine when do right (above posts many details), but be cautious of the Bathtub effect. Which is to say take out your tiller, till a straight line on a level surface, mix in organic, sand, or whatever. Plant it, and watch root rot, come a begging. You just created a bathtub. This particularly true for a clean graded site, that is relatviely flat. You just increased the porosity of the soil, so water soaks down into the amended area. The surrounding soil, is still not as permeable. The water will sit in this trough. To see if you will have this problem dig yourself a hole, fill it with water, and watch what happens. It doesnt matter how wide you make it, if it holds water it holds water, until you open it to a slope, Then you get good drainage after soil amending.

Just my warning, I see this alot in commercial scapes.

There is a place in north GA up for 400, that sells CLM, quite expensive but boy will that stuff make annual bed jam. A lot of the massive beds in the Atlanta market are made of this. The ones that outperform and shine, typically have CLM in them. Like I said expensive, so it doesnt get used everywhere. But annuals love it.
(itsaul natural, dahlonega, GA).

Should go with out saying but dont waork the soil when it's wet. Especially that stuff.

Absolutely, that should have been said first. Don't mess with clay when it's wet unless you want pottery.

The two cuss words here are: "wet compaction" and "interface." It takes a lot of rebellious worms a long time to fix these problems.
K. James

thanks meledward23- I think your "bathtub" theory is right on the money. Can you be more specific about the CLM distributor. Nothing came up when I "googled" it. Is this something only supplied to commercial landscapers? Maybe a homemade version would surfice if we had the recipe. Thanks for your insight.

I can't tell you guys how much I am learning from this discussion. Thank you SO MUCH.

Gliz, I'm glad you got 'Tough Plants for Southern Gardens'. It is truly my favorite gardening book and I think by following his suggestions I can achieve my goal of a low maintenance yet durable showplace. I check out every plant I purchase with the book.

Meledward23... WOW. I hadn't even thought of the 'bathtub' hazard while amending my clay but it's only logical that it could happen. I planted a 4' Carolina Sapphire tree recently and the nurseryman told me to water it everyday for 6 months. It's on a slight slope and I've tried to keep it moist even though I haven't watered it daily. Nature has helped some and I have noticed that the clay does absorb the water, so hopefully my soil drains without trenching. I also found some earthworms while planting which added to my joy! We moved here (from Florida sand..) and I am still in the infant stage of learning now. Thanks again for sharing your insight and experience.

I've read that I shouldn't amend much for permanent shrubs & trees because the roots will tend to stay in the 'good stuff' and not penetrate into the clay where they need to anchor. From experience, I'd like to hear from people who have more experience than me. Would like to plant my camellia when the weather warms a little but certainly want to prepare the soil correctly. Any advice?

If I have clay, can I purposefully use the "bathtub" phenomenon to create a sort of localized wetland? Even though we get a lot of rain, we are in the mountains and drainage is actually pretty good even if the soil doesn't percolate well. No spot is ever too far from a downward slope, so gravity does the work drainage-wise. But it might be neat to try to make a soggy spot and plant some things that otherwise wouldn't grow for me. Maybe I could plant yellow flag iris; would it be too wet for Astilbes? What other plants would like to be in my bathtub?

KENTON!!!! HEY HEY HEY I REALLY LIKE YOUR PAINTING!!!! I LOVE THE CHOICE IN THE PALATTE!!! UH UH UH UH I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO PAAAAAAAINT BUT I I I I I I I I I SEEM TO HAVE TROUBBBBBBLE WITH MY HANDDDDD COORDINATION. YOU KN OW THAT I THINK M Y COFFFFFFFFFFFFEE ADDICTION MA Y HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT. what do you think? Slurp ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Meledward23: Definitly drainage is important in clay. So you must use raised beds in Georgia when you design true gardens. I always watch HGTV and they just planted in the clay every plant they put in that red stuff. It killed me to watch. Or is it better than it looks.

Oi. I've got the one for you, old man.

It looks like acrylic. Is it? Again very nice. So do you do this for a living or do you just have a life of leisure? I smell the Earl Grey just looking at it. How many aromatic teas are there. I love Sumatran coffee because of the aroma. Of course Folgers is my regular flavor and I stand over the can and carry it around when I first open it. My favorite place to work was a veterinary clinic that was next door to a coffee roaster. Ahhhhhh

Steve; Egg-Tempera, actually, because it has to somewhat absorb the india ink that is painted over it. I do it when there are no seeds to plant, weeds to pull, etcetera. Aromatic teas? As many as there are tea afficionados, no doubt. My favorite must be one of Jasmine, Lapsang Souchong, Darjeeling, Earl, Oolong, or orange...
There is a fellwo locally who owns some plantations. He is unique in that he ships the raw beans to be processed here, and the flavour echoes that. He has a good Sumatra, my favorite, too.

Catch some reeeaaaally big fish, ol' man.

Miss Garney; clay-lined areas will decrease drainage. In fact, I am orchestrating a bit of that now to accomodate some future primula that I can't live without. There are others; if you have sun and acid soil, you could try some carnivores?

K. James

Kenton, I love your painting. You are a plant genius and ALSO an artist! I can definately see how the two easily go together! It's all about color! thanks for sharing. sr