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Re: Organic matter's effect on soil bulk?



So let me make this a practical question.

I have an area about 50'x100' that is leveled out mine tailings from 
hydraulic mining.  The soil is long gone, washed down the river in the
late 1800s.  What is left is about 15 to 20' of rock.  Someone pushed the
rock out into a flattened plateau in the past but little grows there.

I have been thinking of what I might start dumping on this area to build
up an organic/soil base so that it might eventually sustain plants.  Chips
>from  the local tree trimmers are available, as well as straw/hay and the
red clay that is abundant in the locality.  Good loam or even good topsoil
is more rare and more expensive.

Given these materials what might one do to build up a base into which 
plants could be placed and expected to survive and prosper?  What plants
might themselves be used and what chemical amendments might be added to
aid the decomposition process?

Ideas?

Thanks,

Mike Maas
-- 
Mike Maas 						(510) 658-0487
Masimo Consulting 					2701 Woolsey
specializing in Sybase DBA Issues and Data Recovery 	Berkeley, CA 94705-2606



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