How To Construct A Healthy Soil | Interview with Master Gardener

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Added 4 years ago by intercd

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Today we visted Master Gardener Doug Jones at his home in the Phoenix suburbs. Doug has been growing tropicals and subtropicals in his yard for almost 30 years, and helped found the Arizona division of the California Rare Fruit Growers group. Doug is an inspiration in that he has learned through trial and error what the majority of us have learned through YouTube videos: how to build a healthy soil that allows bananas and guavas to thrive in the desert.

Plants require food and water to grow. The best way to provide this for them is to construct a rich, fertile soil by applying layer upon layer of organic material, or mulch. Mulch is found in various forms, such as wood chips, grass clippings, pine needles, or palm fronds. The benefits of mulch are endless: you are increasing moisture retention, cutting watering costs, providing a habitat for microbes and insects, regulating soil temperature, and building up a natural layer of compost to feed your trees. Nature has been mulching for millions of years. Every time a tree sheds its leaves or falls over and rots, Nature is applying her own layer of organic material to feed worms and microbes.

In Doug's many years of experimenting, he has learned that applying 4 feet of mulch once a year (or 1 foot of mulch each season), he has created an environment that allows his exotic plants to not only survive, but thrive.

Special thanks to Doug Jones for opening up his home to us, and to Brandon and Alyssa at Greenie's Garden (youtube.com/greeniesgarden) for help in making this video possible.

www.GreenLifeByShamusOLeary.com