[jojomojo]

Originally Posted by KarenO

hmmm wow that's difficult. Is this a natural site? Has there been industry or has all the topsoil been removed?

I don't think anything has been grown there for many years (previous owner had been here 30-40 years). I do think its likely he might have parked vehicles there which could have contributed to the compaction. If the topsoil was removed, I can't imagine why or when. I've been told that the reason the water table is so high is because everyone in the area is on septic. We also only get 8"-12" of rain annually.

Originally Posted by Redbaron

I would start with about 6 inches of partially composted ramial wood chips though and maybe even try a hugelkultur bed. Does anything at all grow there? If so use those native species present as your cover crops! What we can't recover, sometimes the native biology can. It's worth a try. Going to need some kind of native legume though.

My massive pile of wood chips are RWC (cut in winter though, so not much green). Any suggestions for speeding up composting? I'd be afraid of using chemicals for fear of killing what fungal/bacterial life there is and adding more salt.

As for what grows there - I'm not 100% certain, but I think a sad looking light green grass (saltgrass?), horseweed, and salt sage. We disturbed the area and added compost/sawdust/alfalfa/sulphur attempting to get a cover crop to grow (with no luck) and the weeds moved in (before that it was just that low growing light green grass). At this point, I'm welcoming anything that volunteers to grow there and leave its dying roots in the soil (except bindweed!)

I also bought some seeds for Saltbush (Atriplex halimus). It won't survive our winter, but if I can get it to grow all summer I can take cuttings to plant again in the spring. I've read it can help de-salinate soil. I imagine it would be ideal to lay down landscape fabric to catch any fallen leaves and remove the plants and dispose of them off site at the end of summer.

Originally Posted by Tracydr

You can add a drain tile underneath to improve drainage. Grow something that can be chopped to use for cover crops like amaranth or native corn the first summer, alternate that with cowpeas and then something deep rooted. Use lots of that aged wood chips,too.
I'm not sure why one part of the report suggests gypsum and the other part says it's not needed.

Only problem is finding something that will grow in all that salt. I'm not sure how expensive it is to add drains, but I imagine its not in my budget. I wondered that too about the gypsum. I think there's enough in the soil to help remove the salt, the biggest problem is flushing it out since the drainage is so bad.

If I went with raised beds (or mounds), how tall should they be? Will plants send their roots horizontally and avoid the saline soil, or will they send them down into it and suffer?

I appreciate everyone's input