Hi,
I'm helping get an acre-sized mixed orchard off the ground, and one of the bigger questions we have is how much soil prep to do. We did a soil test, and found large deficiencies in P and K. Seems pretty low organic matter and fertility too. The site is a hay field that probably hasn't had much added to it for years. The silty loam topsoil is shallow (about 8") over a clay base. Ph is 6.5.
I am thinking of a year of green manuring (with some rye included to inhibit the perrenial grasses and weeds growing there), then rock phosphate and greensand, and enough lime to bring the ph to 6.8. There is a concern that fertilizer will allow the weeds to grow too much.
Any advice?
Thanks,
Sean (in Quebec)
Green manuring sounds great. Around here, tree services are always trying to give away chipped tree mulch in 9 cord quantities or more. Sounds perfect for you. Then I would think about starting to grow whatever trees you're growing that are less fussy and longer to harvest fruit, and gradually bringing over your high maintenance girlfriends/ I mean trees. 
John S
PDX OR
I did a lot of research a few years and found that a cover crop of tall rye and hairy vetch was the best soil prep. Hairy vetch was rated better than common vetch. The vetch adds a lot of biomass and is a legume so will fix nitrogen. It is a vine so the rye provides support for it to climb. Sow it thickly and it will choke out most weeds.Mow the cover crop while still green and before seed maturity into as fine particles as possible before tilling or plowing to enable more rapid decomposition. One of the problems with any sort of wood product is that it takes nitrogen out of the soil during a lengthy decomposition ( several years depending upon the product).
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
John S
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