Gardening with Caliche Soil in the Southern Plains

These techniques and amendments can transform an otherwise unusable area

How many time have you heard gardeners lament the comportment of hardpan in their soil ? If you live in the Southern Plains or the desert Southwest , it ’s likely you ’ve heard that charge a wad . So what exactly is caliche , and what can we do about it ?

What caliche is

but put , caliche is a layer of soil in which the single soil particles are cement together with atomic number 20 carbonate ( CaCO3 ) , which is the carbonous salt of calcium . The terminus “ cemented ” is key here , because the result soil is very much like existent cement : rock - hard and nonporous . Caliche is formed over K of year as CaCO3washes down through the soil level and accumulates in a solid level . The layer can be very thin or very deep and is ordinarily set up a few in to a few foot below the surface of the land , although it can be good at the open if the soil has been exposed by eroding . Caliche is commonly found in soils in desiccated or semi - desiccated regions such as the desert Southwest , but it is also happen in much of Texas ( mostly south , west , and central ) and in western Oklahoma .

What caliche isn’t

I ’ve heard folk erroneously refer to any heavy - bodied grunge as caliche , including grime with a wooden-headed clay layer or with a high limestone fundamentals content . These are unmanageable soils to garden with , for certain , but they are not technically caliche . However , these difficult soils will benefit from some of the same grunge amendments I mention below .

Why caliche is terrible for plants

Caliche is terrible for plant life for three reasons : ( 1 ) works base can not penetrate it , so they become root restrict . ( 2 ) Water ca n’t enfeeble through it , so roots are suffocated . ( 3 ) Its alkaline nature can make several all important micronutrients ( daystar , iron , atomic number 5 , zinc , and manganese ) unavailable to plant . Gardeners with alkaline soil such as hardpan want to be on the observation tower for signs of nutrient deficiency in their plant .

What to do about it

There are three matter you may do to make gardening in caliche soil more possible .

1. Physically break it up

To provide musical passage for plant theme and weewee drainage , the caliche layer has to be breached . This imply breaking it up with a mattock or rock bar , ripping it with a plow or tiller , removing it with a pneumatic hammer ( I ’m not kidding ) , or even using an gimlet to apprehend planting hole for trees and bush . These methods may sound utmost , but if you ’ve dealt with caliche before , you know that they are n’t ! The key here is to tear an chess opening in the caliche layer that ’s bad enough to bring home the bacon a space for the plants ’ roots to penetrate to the undecomposed soil below . If the jam that you ’ve dug for a plant does n’t amply diffuse the caliche layer , you may expend a practice session with a long masonry second ( the length of the number will look on the depth of your caliche level ) to make a couple of trap down deep through your planting hole . This is the step that we all wish was n’t necessary for gardening in hardpan because it is the most work , but it ’s necessary . The only time you may get away with not doing this is if your caliche layer is mystifying in your grime , but if that ’s the case then you are belike not bet for ways to remediate it .

2. Add organic matter

This stride is perfectly crucial to building good horticulture dirt out of poor soil , especially caliche . You desire to get as much organic matter on top of your caliche as potential , whether it be in the shape of compost , mulch , cover crops , leafage cast , or wood potato chip . You also want this organic topic to get wet regularly so that it can give way down and make soil . If you may give up the water supply , wash this level occasionally . Scavenge organic thing from other parts of your yard or garden if necessary . In my own garden I have used leaves , kitchen scrap compost , quondam pale yellow , hay , half - rotted wood chips , and chicken bedding as constitutive matter for my land . Adding constitutive matter to your caliche grime will help build up a thick layer of good ground , and it will also buffer the alkalic nature of the original soil . constitutive matter is critical to all dependable ground , and it is an especially crucial whole tone to remediate caliche soil .

3. Add sulfur

Powdered or pelleted sulphur is a useful amendment for alkaline grease , buffering the alkalinity and thereby making micronutrient such as iron more uncommitted to plants . Sulfur takes time to be effective in soil , so it should be applied a year forward of plant for full results . Consult the software system for specific program rates , as they will depend on your soil type .

Many family recollect that caliche soils are a expiry sentence for gardening , but they do n’t have to be if you are willing to put in the travail . If you do it you have caliche grunge , then check that you pass judgment your garden beds or planting sites carefully before you add plants . The metre to make amendments is before you set , although you could ( and should ) continue to tot up constitutional matter to your grime over many years , even after your land site is plant .

— Karen Beaty is a forestry specializer in the Wildland Conservation Division of Austin , Texas .

ok Gardening recommend product

Razor - Back Potato / Refuse Hook

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site , including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertizement programs .

DeWit Spork with Solid Socket

Get our modish summit , how - to articles , and instructional television air to your inbox .

Signing you up …

Drainage Solutions for Heavy Clay Soil

Growing Hydrangeas in the Southern Plains

Great Native Plants for the Southern Plains

Penstemons That Thrive in the Southern Plains

Join Fine Gardening for a free engaging alive webinar feature Dr. Janna Beckerman , a renowned flora pathologist as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical manager …

When I spotted a particular Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few month ago , I knew I was in trouble . With a delicious color figure …

When we only prioritize plants we require over plants our landscape needs , each season is filled with a never - ending list of task : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , rectify , and fertilizing , with …

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be measured when you get in the backyard of garden intriguer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re probable to trip on something , but because you might be dive - bombed by a pair …

4 Midsummer Favorites From a Plant Breeder’s Garden

Episode 181: Plants You Can’t Kill

Episode 180: Plants with Big, Bold Foliage

4 Steps to Remove Invasive Plants in Your Yard

All Access member get more

Sign up for afree trialand get approach to ALL our regional content , plus the repose of the member - only cognitive content library .

get down Free Trial

Get double-dyed site access to expert advice , regional substance , and more , plus the photographic print mag .

Start your destitute run

Already a member?sign in

Caliche soil

Caliche soils are common in the Southern Plains and Southwest. Some caliche is visible above ground, while some is only discoverable by digging.Photo: Loadmaster (David R. Tribble) via Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SA 3.0

shovels