Clay for landscape planting

rlominski

Hi,

Does anybody have a substitute for the clay that is shown in bonsai magazines that is used for forest plantings to make a wall that gets filled with soil. Can't find it in the Northeast US.

Also, I think the same stuff is used, but how about the clay that is mixed with akadama and is stuck to rocks for trees that are planted on stones.

Finally, anybody know where to find any ibigawa stones or similar to rock plantings?

Phew, that's a lot of info I just asked for
Thanks
Rob

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Dav4

From what I've read, the "clay" you're interested in is sometimes called muck. It's made by taking finely sifted akadama or similar product and mixing it with finely chopped sphagnum moss and water. I've seen it made in some magazines. Can't help you with the stones.

Dave

rlominski

They call it Keto muck!

fozz

This is a different recipe for "Muck".

1 part normal everyday clay from the garden
1 part cow manure
1 part finely chopped sphagnum moss.

Dry the clay and cow manure and then crush it into fine particles.
Mix the whole lot together and add water until you have the consistancey of modeling clay.

Hope this helps you.

BunjinEnt

Rob, Just did a couple rock plantings today. In Virginia we have very clay soil. I just pull up a shovel full, usually the yellow or red stuff (a couple inches below the top soil) let it dry out in the sun, crush it into powder, sift with screen. Then I mix in worm castings for trace elements and microbes, and Bat Guano into a plastic bag and shook the bag to get a good mix. Put it back into a tub added water and stirred into a very thick paste.

One part bat guano.
One part worm castings.
2 parts clay.

Slopped it in place, planted trees and filled in with more muck. Then found some moss that grows in a sunny part of the yard and tamped that on top. The moss should give some added moisture in the heat of the summer and some protection from heavy down pours. Once this mix hardens, the outer crust should be very hard. The pockets of my stone are fairly deep and somewhat sheltered from the elements. I also used exterior stone epoxy to put wires in and wired the trees in place.

The down side to rock plantings is you have to water them more often as the rock sucks the moisture out and you don't have the volume of soil you would have in a pot. The up side is you won't have to re-pot them nearly as often. Decades as I understand it.

Hope this helps,

-Wm

revt

Plain, unscented cat litter mixed with long fibered peat moss can be used. Make sure the cat litter has no scents or additives. Moisten and knead it to the consistency of modeling clay. I think the stuff sold to soak up oil is the same material as the cat litter, but am not sure. I have used the cat litter and it works.

baldguy

You should check out the keto-tsuchi muck recipe at fukubonsai.com. I used it four years ago on a vertical rock planting, and everything is still hanging on tight.

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rlominski

Thanks, never would have thought of any of these items.
Rob

rlominski

I looked around the site, but did not see this recipe. Any other info on it?