Managing the tea garden soil cover: weed, nutrients and biodiversity
Let’s look below our feet in this ancient tea garden of Jingmai Mountain. As I walk around the garden, I try to uncover what’s hidden in the soil. I discuss the …
Thank you for the informative video, always love hearing your thoughts. Why not let the weeds live and die naturally? I imagine the trees were healthy when the gardens were abandoned for long periods of time, so wouldn't they be fine without intervention nowadays as well? I'm also curious – are any beneficial nitrogen-fixing weeds common in the tea gardens in your area?
Very nice, William. Weed control in my tea garden is probably the main demand on labor, perhaps even more than tea plant management. But if your garden is fully organic like mine then you have no choice but to trim or mow or pull weeds on a regular basis. I also invest a lot of time in making compost to distribute over the entire garden space including the alleys between tea hedges. The soil is low fertility and lacks organic matter so compost is the primary input of nutrients. It’s a lot of work but also very enjoyable.
I really like how your grow tea under the forest canopy. Do you find that shade-grown tea has lower productivity? I will be planting shade trees this winter. Thank you for sharing!
Hello William and Yubai. In and around Jingmai area are there any Camphor trees? What is the dominant tree types there? There are certain species ( like Black Walnut) that limit other growth around and under them.
William, this is a brilliant and insightful video! That's one of the reasons why I keep coming back to watch your channel ☺️
Helpful. Keep making more content
Thank you for the informative video, always love hearing your thoughts. Why not let the weeds live and die naturally? I imagine the trees were healthy when the gardens were abandoned for long periods of time, so wouldn't they be fine without intervention nowadays as well? I'm also curious – are any beneficial nitrogen-fixing weeds common in the tea gardens in your area?
This is such a valuable resource, thankyou for sharing the knowledge.
Very nice, William. Weed control in my tea garden is probably the main demand on labor, perhaps even more than tea plant management. But if your garden is fully organic like mine then you have no choice but to trim or mow or pull weeds on a regular basis. I also invest a lot of time in making compost to distribute over the entire garden space including the alleys between tea hedges. The soil is low fertility and lacks organic matter so compost is the primary input of nutrients. It’s a lot of work but also very enjoyable.
I really like how your grow tea under the forest canopy. Do you find that shade-grown tea has lower productivity? I will be planting shade trees this winter. Thank you for sharing!
Hello William and Yubai. In and around Jingmai area are there any Camphor trees? What is the dominant tree types there? There are certain species ( like Black Walnut) that limit other growth around and under them.