For my bamboo and nanner beds, I'll go the lazy way and use deep-rooted plants and lotsa compost and mulch to prepare my beds for me. Daikon radishes, if over-sown, are a great way to break thru hard virgin soil - when they've matured just hoe off the tops so the root will decompose then sow another run and the second set will put roots down even deeper. Keep applying compost over this as well as mulch and green clippings. Sunflowers and fava beans are also good at rehabilitating the soil too - I'll have a very dense stand of them where my plantings will go. Not only are their roots good at invigorating the soil, they produce a lot of vegetative matter that you can just cut down and leave where it lay - get a scythe for that, I love mine! Hairy vetch is also very good at giving the soil a kick as well. Mix it up and keep adding compost and never pull a thing out of the soil - leave the roots in to decompose. In a couple of seasons, you can turn sand or clay into rich black earthworm-filled soil just begging for nanners and bamboo!
Be well,
Mike
Quote:
Originally Posted by momoese
My wife and I picked up shovels and started at one end digging down and making a huge pile of dirt. Then we mixed the organic matter in with the dirt that we were digging ahead of our selves. We slowly made our way across the area where the Bananas were to be planted. It was totally insane and I don't know that I would go quite that crazy again. We also did it for our Bamboo area, again just an insane amount of work, but boy does the Bamboo like it!
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