Subject: Need help with Seattle herb garden & blackberries

From: [email-masked]
Date: 13 Mar 1995 19:12:16 GMT

>   Tracy Warner <[email-masked]> writes:
>  I am wondering if anyone out there can give me some hints/suggestions
>  about what kind of herbs to plant in the Washngton State area,
>  specifically in Seattle.

You should be able to grow most of the commonly used culinary
herbs in Seattle.  I currently grow rosemary, bay, lavender, parsley,
tarragon, chves, coriander, several varieties of basil and thyme, borage,
lovage, sage, chervil and pineapple mint.

>  My garden gets a lot of sun and the soil is claylike and fertile.

You may find that the typical Seattle clay requires some deep digging
and incorporation of compost plus some coarse sand to improve its
drainage.  Most of the popular herbs will not tolerate wet feet, and are
much more likely to drown during our winters than freeze!

_____________________________________________________________________

S. Andrew Schulman                             Voice: (206)545-1117                        
Springwood Associates, Inc.                      FAX: (206)545-1107     
Seattle, WA                                       
[email-masked]                       All the usual disclaimers.      
______________________________________________________________________

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From: [email-masked] (Allyn Weaks)
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 21:02:38 -0800

> much more likely to drown during our winters than freeze!

I'm curious about exactly where you live that you have any clay to speak
of in your soil.  I keep hearing people talk about the heavy clay soil in
Seattle, but I've yet to see any.  I'm in Greenwood and have 10% tops
(mostly much less) with a goodly amount of sand and much coarse silt and
some fine silt, which from the reading that I've been doing is pretty
typical for the Sound in general unless you're in an alluvial floodplain. 
Did the contractors of some eras and areas truck in clay soil as 'top'
soil?  Or are you lucky enough (or foresightful enough) to live in one of
the alluvial valleys?

Poor drainage can be due to a hardpan layer beneath the surface soil,
either naturally there (quite common on gently undulating terrain, usually
about two to three feet down before construction mangling) or due to heavy
construction vehicles packing things down when they built the house, or
sometimes due to frequent tilling to the same depth.  If the hardpan is
quite near the surface, it's the digging that breaks it up, not the
addition of sand per se.  A cover crop with very deep roots like winter
rye or white radish or dandelions will do better than digging, assuming of
course that the hardpan isn't bedrock :-).  A heavy mulch to encourage
worms and other tunneling decomposers also helps tremendously (as do
moles!)  If you're in a basin, though, it may be hard to rectify things
without putting in drains to the sewer system, at which point raised beds
or planting bog plants might be more practical.

I'm curious as to whether you've tested your soil for clay content (easy
to do at home with a jar and a clock).  Having come from St. Louis where
there is _real_ clay, I've yet to see any around here...if you can't make
a pot from it, and if doesn't collect in gigantic gooey masses on your
boots to the point where you can't pick your feet up, it's not real clay
:-).  If you have any extra, can I have some?  To remind me of what I'm
not missing? :-)
-- 
Allyn Weaks
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Helen Anderson)
Date: 13 Mar 1995 23:23:10 -0800

: there is _real_ clay, I've yet to see any around here...if you can't make

I believe it is mostly private property but try looking where the old
brick plant used to be, south of Spokane Street.  They mined the area east
of what is now I-5.
Don Anderson

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From: [email-masked] (Allyn Weaks)
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 16:04:43 -0800

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked]

> brick plant used to be, south of Spokane Street.  They mined the area east

Yes, but that area is smack in the middle of the Duwamish River delta...
-- 
Allyn Weaks
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Helen Anderson)
Date: 15 Mar 1995 00:26:27 -0800

It doesn't matter if the clay is in the valley or on the hillside.  Plenty
of Seattle residents live southerly in that delta.  My belief is
different however.  When I-5 was constructed the state was forced to
condemn the brick plant because the freeway cut off plant from the mine,
which I believe to be the aformentioned location on Beacon hillside.
Don Anderson

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From: [email-masked] (Glenna Mileson)
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 1995 19:04:19 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
   
> Having come from St. Louis where

There is indeed REAL clay in the NW.  We have lots of it our here on Vashon.  
We also have pockets of sand.  I think the wide variety of soil is due to the 
platonic action.  Anyway, it blue, mucky, sticky and you could probably make a 
pot out of it.