Worked for me Leslie -- nothing went into that bed after putting blood meal down on the perimeter.

Blood meal keeps cats from using my mulch as litter? I'm on it.

Mary Ann. Going pick some up for sure.

That would be better if Davy went somewhere else.

Hallelujah !(borrowing a word from Tom) We're getting a little rain!

That's good! We got about an inch or so last night. Just dug a post hole for a new fence post, and it was wet all the way down, about 4 ft.

Wow -- lucky you! Some of my newly planted rhizomes have leaves that are turning yellow...............

that is some rain going four foot down.

The soil in Wisconsin is very sandy, Lucy -- excellent for fast drainage. It would take a week of slow rain to wet the soil here down to the four-foot level. I'm actually not sure that would be enough..................

I cant imagine what it would take to wet the soil four foot down here. Perhaps under the lake??

Even though we had a couple weeks of no rain, I don't think the lower levels were completely dry. I have sandy soil here, but there are places in the state where that's not the case. It's nice not to have to water, at least for a while. I couldn't believe how long it took me to water every thing.

I know Tom. On days I water I do not get anything else in the garden done. It is a three hour chore and I use soaker hoses too. I try to do half the place one day and the other half the next. But then if I have to be somewhere and don't get to my watering chore my plants will suffer. I think my watering does such a shallow job that more roots form on the top of the soil and then dry out faster than they normally would.

Hmm. I thought the whole state was like that. The time that I've spent in Wisconsin has mostly been spent in the southern part of the state, and the soil was sandy there. My SIL and DIL owned a dairy farm in northwest Wisconsin -- and I don't remember for sure what kind of soil they had there. I thought it was sandy too -- but could be wrong.

Sorry for the mis-statement.

Watering uses up a ton of time -- especially if you're giving a *good watering* -- and not just a *drink*. My lilac bush looks poorly -- I'll have to let the hose run on it for awhile today.

There is a vast flat area in central Wisconsin near Stevens Point that is very sandy. The ground water supply is down about 17 feet. you can drop a point down anywhere and get lots of water. The big companies like Libbies, and Green Giant have bought up most of the land in that area, as they can irrigate cheaply, and produce great crops. So yes, there are vast areas of sandy soil here, but some of the "unglaciated" areas are hilly and have more rocky heavy clay types of soil.

Ah. Interesting. Our family's farm in Wisconsin was in a very hilly region -- think Eau Claire -- so maybe more of the clay type soil that you describe?

You know more about your state than I do about mine, Tom.

Eau Claire is right on the edge of the unglaciated area, the Driftless Area. It is important as a region because it remained glacier free, while all around the glaciers scoured down the terrain. That is why it is so hilly. The Wisconsin Dells are in this area too and are really popular because of the ancient landforms. When the glaciers receded, and before the meltwater filled in the basin that became Lake Michigan, a lot of the finely ground particles blew to the Michigan side of the lake. That is why we have a coastline of sand dunes in MI. My hometown was built upon dunes, and our sand is free of shells, salt, & such that the oceans have so it squeaks when you walk on it.

Probably too much information, but geology was a major subject for me in archaeology. Also, we were taught about glaciers all through school.

Fun information, Leslie.

Some think that as many as 10 glaciers passed over parts of this state.

There were several glacial events during the "Ice Age" and several versions of what became the Great Lakes during different freeze and thaw cycles. You must have a lot of glacial moraines in your area Tom.

I'm pretty flat here, but if I travel a bit North East there are some lateral moraines and terminal moraines. They are most prevalant around what's called the "Holy Hill" area, and the Kettle Moraine area. A 100 or so years ago, some of them were mined for their iron ore. The old mine shafts are still there, and I remember going exploring in them when I lived over in that part of the state.