Centennial Garden Preparation
Research
on the plants common to the early 1900's was conducted and a plant list
for the garden was constructed.
The
border was measured. The area was marked and glyphosate herbicide
was applied to kill the turf before tilling the area (photo above right).
A soil sample was taken (photo left) in spring
of 2003 and submitted for
analysis to determine the initial state of the soil. The results are as follows:
pHs 7.1, Phosphorus (P) 77 lbs/a, Potassium (K) 408 lbs/a, Calcium (Ca)
4404 lbs/a, Magnesium (Mg) 746 lbs/a, Organic Matter 3.3%, Neutralizable
Acidity 0.0 meq, Cation Exchange Capacity 14.6 meq/100g.
Garden was tilled several times in order to
get ready for fall 2003 planting (photo right). The plant orders were
made to get ready for fall.
Peat moss was into the soil to amend the clay
soil before fall planting (photo directly below).
Additional organic matter was tilled in (3
inches cow manure and sphagnum peat moss) in early spring. A follow-up soil sample
was taken in summer of 2004 and the results of the analysis are as follows: Phs 6.8,
Phosphorus (P) 148 lbs/a, Potassium (K) 573 lbs/a, Calcium (Ca) 3356
lbs/a, Magnesium (Mg) 613 lbs/a, Organic Matter 5.5%, Neutralizable
Acidity 0.0 meq, Cation Exchange Capacity 11.7 meq/100g.
