Were you serious about spruce trees? It would obviously be trees or vegetables, not both.
c1377
Those tomatoes look great! What variety are they?
RealJeil420
Are you giving up already?
Mhinc
I’m confused…..What does a photo of bumblebee tomatoes have to do with planting spruce trees in raised beds??!
premiom
I think you are referring to hugelkultur, a permaculture technique where dead tree branches are used as the foundation of a planting bed, then covered with compost and soil for planting. I read that spruce may not break down as quickly as other woods. I don’t use this technique so I can’t share advice. I guess try it in a bed and see how it goes.
thomasthomas118899
I am talking about dead branches to use for fill. Not growing a tree in a raised bed.
premiom
So the inhibiting quality mentioned is called allelopathy. Black walnuts have it but I can’t find that spruces do. Allelopathy is not the same as making soil acidic. I think you’d need a lot of spruce and time to start seeing acidifying effects in your bed. Per https://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/Vegetables/?uid=26&ds=462, most crops do well with a mildly acidic soil ph and there are simple soil ph tests you can perform to check. I think most likely it will be all right. In the worst case you can plant blueberries. =)
9 Comments
Tomatoes are a fruit.
Were you serious about spruce trees? It would obviously be trees or vegetables, not both.
Those tomatoes look great! What variety are they?
Are you giving up already?
I’m confused…..What does a photo of bumblebee tomatoes have to do with planting spruce trees in raised beds??!
I think you are referring to hugelkultur, a permaculture technique where dead tree branches are used as the foundation of a planting bed, then covered with compost and soil for planting. I read that spruce may not break down as quickly as other woods. I don’t use this technique so I can’t share advice. I guess try it in a bed and see how it goes.
I am talking about dead branches to use for fill. Not growing a tree in a raised bed.
So the inhibiting quality mentioned is called allelopathy. Black walnuts have it but I can’t find that spruces do. Allelopathy is not the same as making soil acidic. I think you’d need a lot of spruce and time to start seeing acidifying effects in your bed. Per https://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/Vegetables/?uid=26&ds=462, most crops do well with a mildly acidic soil ph and there are simple soil ph tests you can perform to check. I think most likely it will be all right. In the worst case you can plant blueberries. =)
You can fill anything with anything!