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Dr. Chip’s RX for sickly soil—now’s a good time for medication

Posted Feb 18, 2010 by Loren Omoto

Updated Feb 18, 2010 at 05:31 PM

When I started digging up my yard and planting perennials 10 years ago, I used mostly plants that I had read would do well in my sandy soil. I had no time for more digging and dumping than was absolutely necessary.

Once I had some success, I thought I could grow anything. (Haha! Not!) I know now that part of my problem is the earliest beds didn’t get much in the way of organic amendments. That’s OK for some plants, but definitely not for others.

With so many of them no longer in the way, now is a good time for me to get in there and start amending. Having visited Chip Fulp and Diane Schramm’s lush, North Tampa garden, I knew just who to ask for advice on perking up my dirt.

Chip discovered by happy accident a technique called “trench composting.” You dig deep into your flower or veggie bed and put in the type of stuff you’d normally throw in a compost bin. Then you cover it all up and plant on top of your compost.

“In the past, I’ve used bag after bag of store-bought soil, and when it came time to replant, the bed was no better than when I started,” he says. “I have dug up and replanted in a few of these beds (using the compost method) and could not believe just how much good soil I had – and earthworms! Now my beds are healthy.”

Chip uses a similar technique to create compost mounds, which he covers with dirt.

I asked if he’d write up for me exactly how he composts his beds. He very kindly did so, and here’s his prescription:

All of the bad stuff is in the top 6 to 8 inches of soil — nematodes, weed spores etc. I dig my beds at least a foot deep, in some cases deeper depending what I plan to do with them. My veggie beds are a foot because I know I will be digging them up once that season is over, but my wife’s rose bed is 3 feet deep because I most likely will never dig it up again.  How deep to dig depends on how much organic material you have, how deep the plants you’re planting are, and if you’re going to raise the bed. Remember, the top of the compost will be the bottom of your plant.

This is a slightly raised, finished bed of strawberry plants.

Next, place the heavier organic material, like sticks, in the bottom. I wet each layer as I go, and squirt in some cheap dish soap to kill the bugs. The phosphorous in the soap also helps trigger the composting.

Once I have enough organic matter, I toss in some finished compost from my bin and some Black Hen chicken manure (available at feed stores). The chicken manure is hot and really gets things cooking. If you don’t want to use chicken manure, you can add slow-release fertilizer instead, but it doesn’t work as well. Chicken manure is often available at feed stores, like Shell’s on North Nebraska Avenue in Tampa.

Now, add in some of the dirt you removed from the hole and wet it into the compost. Cap it all with at least two layers of newspaper — but no more than four — and wet it so it won’t blow away. The newspaper acts as a weed barrier.

  Next, mix top soil and cow manure — and proportions you want — into the remaining soil that was removed from the hole.

Now the compost mound.

This is an overgrown area that needed clearing out.

This is what it looked like after Chip dug out the vegetation.

From that vegetation and his other compost ingredients, he created this compost mound.

He covered it with top soil and compost, and voila! It is covered with lush green growth. And the tree is now circled by more beds for planting.