I definitely have some of these challenges. Salty soil is the biggest obstacle. My property in Nevada is packed full of salt cedar. I thought I could use this as mulch, but I read it concentrates salt in its branches. Do you know if it is a bad idea to use as mulch?
Thanks for the great question. You will see information that using salt-secreting leaves of saltcedar (tamarisk) as mulch is generally not advisable because the leaves contain high levels of salt on their surface. So, the argument is that when used as mulch, the salt can leach into the soil, potentially harming other plants by increasing the soil's salinity. However, in Permaculture we always try to look at problem from a holistic point of view. We know for a fact that Saltcedar has a salt-secreting leaves - these are leaves that have special mechanisms to remove excess salt from the plant. These leaves have tiny structures or glands that can excrete salt, effectively getting rid of the salt that the plant takes in from the soil. What’s important to note is that the salt is moved out of the plant tissue and deposited on the surface of the leaves, where it can be washed away by rain or blown away by wind. 90% of the salt is returned to the soil through rain by throughflow and stemflow, whereas only 10% of the salt returns to the ground through litter fall. So with the proper management, salinity can actually decrease with the help of saltcedars. If you have very fast evaporation the salt from leaves will crust at the surface and not even permeate to the soil. If you compost the leaves properly or add animal manure, I really don’t think it will affect your soil and the microbes will properly decompose the harmful minerals. I think the key in your area will be to add organic matter to the soil on constant basis and increase the biodiversity bit by bit and have various mulch producing plants, but this must be done incrementally in stages. I know that Geoff Lawton and Bill Mollison speak highly of these trees and in areas where they are native (Eurasia and Asia) it wouldn’t cross their mind to cut them. I know this is not what you had in mind, but I know there are battles in the US to eradicate this plant. Saltcedar has also many benefits, the branches can be used for basketry and their nectar is forage for honeybees. They are great to control erosion (great for sand dunes). They can be also used as a source of timber (for ploughs, furniture, boxes etc). The trees also shade the soil and protect from wind, and I think you’re lucky to have them. They are better than having bare ground. I hope this helps!
@@granvisio Thank you so much for the thoughtful answer. The goal is to utilize my water rights to grow four acres of date palms interplanted with pomegranate, figs, and olives. All are relatively salt tolerant. We’ll see if I can make it happen. It’s all a big experiment for me and something to keep me busy when I’m an old (or even older) man.
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I definitely have some of these challenges. Salty soil is the biggest obstacle.
My property in Nevada is packed full of salt cedar. I thought I could use this as mulch, but I read it concentrates salt in its branches. Do you know if it is a bad idea to use as mulch?
Thanks for the great question. You will see information that using salt-secreting leaves of saltcedar (tamarisk) as mulch is generally not advisable because the leaves contain high levels of salt on their surface. So, the argument is that when used as mulch, the salt can leach into the soil, potentially harming other plants by increasing the soil's salinity.
However, in Permaculture we always try to look at problem from a holistic point of view. We know for a fact that Saltcedar has a salt-secreting leaves - these are leaves that have special mechanisms to remove excess salt from the plant. These leaves have tiny structures or glands that can excrete salt, effectively getting rid of the salt that the plant takes in from the soil. What’s important to note is that the salt is moved out of the plant tissue and deposited on the surface of the leaves, where it can be washed away by rain or blown away by wind. 90% of the salt is returned to the soil through rain by throughflow and stemflow, whereas only 10% of the salt returns to the ground through litter fall.
So with the proper management, salinity can actually decrease with the help of saltcedars. If you have very fast evaporation the salt from leaves will crust at the surface and not even permeate to the soil. If you compost the leaves properly or add animal manure, I really don’t think it will affect your soil and the microbes will properly decompose the harmful minerals. I think the key in your area will be to add organic matter to the soil on constant basis and increase the biodiversity bit by bit and have various mulch producing plants, but this must be done incrementally in stages.
I know that Geoff Lawton and Bill Mollison speak highly of these trees and in areas where they are native (Eurasia and Asia) it wouldn’t cross their mind to cut them. I know this is not what you had in mind, but I know there are battles in the US to eradicate this plant. Saltcedar has also many benefits, the branches can be used for basketry and their nectar is forage for honeybees. They are great to control erosion (great for sand dunes). They can be also used as a source of timber (for ploughs, furniture, boxes etc). The trees also shade the soil and protect from wind, and I think you’re lucky to have them. They are better than having bare ground. I hope this helps!
@@granvisio Thank you so much for the thoughtful answer. The goal is to utilize my water rights to grow four acres of date palms interplanted with pomegranate, figs, and olives. All are relatively salt tolerant. We’ll see if I can make it happen. It’s all a big experiment for me and something to keep me busy when I’m an old (or even older) man.
@@ThoneJones Best of luck with your project!
😍😍
Thanks for the comment!