DIY Yards and Health

DIY Yards and Health
Helping the Do It Yourself home owner in making themselves and surroundings healthy

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Ahhh! finally the fall cool down

Looks like the cool down is finally coming. This will spark a lot of work we've talked about such as deep root tree feeds. Remember if you are not using our GTM tri-blend...do not let a lawn company pump nitrogen in around your trees.

Our Tri-blend is a mix of Save A Tree (Thrive in Zamzows stores), Worm compost tea and a fertilizer mix made by Dr.Brennan for these Boise area soils.

This takes a special type of equipment and the ability to oxygenate the living organisms in the tank when it is being brewed over a three day period...a bit of a time burner but well worth it...just look at our trees :)

tank for feeding trees
 
This system uses a diaphragm pump which provides 60 psi of pressure. As the probe goes into the ground the fertilizer is injected laterally at that high pressure which helps fracture the ground and push the material in a more even pattern throughout the root structure.
 
If you use a system like this you do not need as much material because you are not losing so much from being tied up in the organic material at the surface or competing grass roots above the tree roots.
 


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

So what is Worm Tea

worm composting
Living organisms depend on a balanced loop to be able to acquire nutrients and water. Worms in the soil are key to creating that biological relationship.

There is a lot of talk about "Compost Tea" including a professor in Washington that I've heard people quote as saying that the Tea do not work. That is not what she said, her main point was there is no standard as to how the tea is made. So dry old compost made into tea is far different than living organisms from worm castings. And that is absolutely right. She was also addressing spraying the tree with the tea...not injecting the root system. And her conclusions were about compost tea NOT having the ability to stop disease or pests, which again is absolutely correct. However, she was not disclaiming the fact that fertilizer put on the roots of plants from Compost tea is amazingly beneficial in creating very healthy plants.
Here is the article. http://puyallup.wsu.edu/~linda%20chalker-scott/FactSheets/Compost%20tea%20fact%20sheet.pdf

Here are articles on how well Compost tea correctly produced has worked.
http://www.urbantreemanagement.com/pdf/Casestudy.pdf
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/douglas/mg/dcmg/aerated-compost-tea