Compost Tea & Roses

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a column in the Pacific Northwest magazine of the Seattle Times about how the Woodland Park Zoo's rose garden has gone organic. Wouldn't you expect master gardeners, of all people, to laud landscape manager E.J. Hook's efforts to ditch the chemicals? Nope. Here's master gardener Fred Werner's response to my column. And for the record...Fred misquoted me below. As far as I'm concerned the jury is out on compost tea, but I'm very impressed at the zoo's results with using compost tea as part of an organic care program for roses that are undeniably healthy and thriving....

Councilmen Rassmussen and Godden,
As members of the council that oversee the funds used at the zoo I hope you  will look into my concerns. I am a King County volunteer Master Gardener who  volunteers at the Bellevue Urban Demonstration Garden. In mid June we invited EJ  Hook, who maintains the very nice nationally recognized rose garden at the Zoo,  to come talk to a group of Master Gardeners about the Zoo Rose Garden. E J  claims that one of the reasons that the roses look so well is that they spray  Compost Tea on them weekly. When I told him that as a WSU Master Gardener I  am not permitted to recommend the use of Compost Tea since there is no  scientific evidence that it has any value. E.J told me he was aware of that  but wanted to treat all the roses. I told E.J. that I had done a three year  study of compost tea at the BUDG and had found it to be a very labor intensive  process that had no improvement in production or reduction in disease. Few  people have the circumstances or means to do a scientific study.but the Zoo  has both. He said he didn't have the staff to do a study but might  consider it in the future.

A week later Valerie Easton wrote an Article in the Seattle Times  Pacific Northwest Magazine also suggesting that compost tea was a contributing factor in why the roses do so well. When I confronted Valerie she said she  was aware that compost tea had no scientific evidence of value but she  wanted to give the other side of the story. She claimed she had previously told  the WSU side in her earlier articles. I felt it was poor journalism and gave the  public an unjustifiable reason to try compost tea.

I'm not opposed to the Zoo spending money on spraying compost tea on the roses as long as they use part of the roses as a control to see if there is any  actual improvement. They are spending a lot of man hours on something that, as  of now, has no proven value. The tests to see if there is any improvement in  soil biology are expensive but with the number of roses they have I think they  can justify it. He would also need a person to collect and evaluate data. I'm  sure the WSU Puyallup Research Station can give recommendations on how to do a  proper study.
Please encourage the Zoo to do the study needed to justify their use of compost tea. If he can't justify doing the study I don't think he should be using public money in these times of tight money to use an unproven  product.
Fred Wemer

 

Here's E.J. Hook's response to the Zoo PR director:

I did have a lengthy conversation with Fred following my presentation.  I explained to him that compost tea is part of a holistic approach to pesticide free garden management used in conjunction with other tools, practices, and methods such as pruning, watering, fertilization, etc.

I also told him the difficulty in doing peer review level scientific studies including staff time, testing costs, and the difficulties presented by the lack of controllable variables.

An over riding tenet of our program, and one explained both in every presentation and to Fred personally, is that our measure of success is based on meeting an aesthetic expectation of Rose Garden visitors, especially brides and their mothers.  If this expectation is met then we are successful whether science bears that out or not.

As to testing, I have soil tests, tea tests, labor analysis, and photos to add credence to the "worthiness" of our pesticide free efforts.  At a presentation of this level I do not include the actual data but allude to it.

Facts-
Overall diversity of soil biology has increased.
Overall availability of soil nutrients has increased to a level where we did not fertilize the roses this year.
Testing has been and continues to be done but there is no control plot for comparison.
Increased labor is offset by no re-entry restrictions.
Other City departments are interested enough in this project and sharing the results to assist in financing it.

Bottom line, the messaging in maintaining a Rose Garden of this size pesticide free has value to the public we serve and the institution we represent. We have, and never will, claim that compost tea is "the" answer.  It is part of a larger maintenance program which meets the expectations of the garden and furthers the conservation and sustainability values of the Zoo.

ej

Comments

[Kimberly]

Question... spraying the roses with compost tea? I thought the point of compost was to add more organic matter to the soil. Does *that* have science backing it up?

[sue n.]

I admire and applaud your frank open discussion and examination of all sides of the issue. Nicely done.

[wwjk]

I think you're missing the critic's point. As I understand the story, Mr. Hook's presentation noted that compost tea is one component of a number of actions taken to organically care for the roses. I don't hear in Mr. Wemer's argument that he opposes an organic approach at all. I think he's saying the same thing that you admit--that the jury is out on compost tea. So to attribute any of the garden's success to that one component is pure speculation and not particularly prudent. Unless Mr. Hook has specifically isolated the impact of the compost tea on the garden's overall success, he might as well advocate dancing a naked conga line at every full moon in the garden. The same defense--that the overall impact is positive-- would work.

[Tad]

Harvard yard just completed a study on compost tea this year. Here's a link:

http://www.slideshare.net/harvard_uos/harvard-yard-soils-pilot

As for compost, there are plenty of studies and research to support it's use. No one argues about the benefits of using compost, but rather that it's costly and labor intensive.

[Union Glashutte]

I believe that even if it is more costly, that because it is better for the environment, AND because it IS A ZOO (and should be having a positive affect on the community) they should be doing what is right, regardless of cost and economic conditions-- ugh.
-Sylvia

[carol king]

May I please have the name of the person who made the turned rail in seattle times picture today thank you

[Margaret Hynes]

I loved the railing in the photo for the article "Odd is Good"... can you forward some info on the artist and perhaps some contact information? It's exactly what I'm looking for in my "odd" garden. Loved the article,too!

Thanks

[valerie Easton]

Hi Margaret,
That is a cool railing, isn't it? It was made by a metal artist named Wil Case (yes, the Wil has one "l"). The railing is in Tina Dixon's garden, and her entire garden, with more information about the artist, will be in the Easter Sunday issue of Pacific magazine. Some of Wil's work will be in the cover photo if I remember correctly. Wil is a local artist, but I'm unable to find him on Google - you could always email Tina Dixon for more information if your questions aren't answered in that April 4 issue of Pacific magazine.
Best regards,
Val

[Margaret Hynes]

Hi Val,
Thanks so much for the follow-up. I'll look forward to the article in Pacific Magazine, and now that I have the artist's name, hopefully I can locate him somehow.

We recently built a garage on our property, so our yard area is a huge "clean slate" of dirt and weeds. Where can I find your book "The New Low Maintenance Garden"? I need all the help I can get!

[valerie Easton]

"The New Low Maintenance Garden" is at most bookstores, or any could order it for you. Or you could get it from Amazon.com....thanks for asking....
Val

[Sergey]

Compost tea is probably a useful thing. But the matter is that it takes a lot of time to be prepared and nobody knows what kind of bacteria and funguses he grows. Instead of it you can take already done and guaranteed microorganisms which will work in the soil and on plants as fungicides and insecticides. Any harm, any lost time, any equipment. The whole you need is the biological preparation and water. To be sure visit the page www.zahyst-agro.com.ua Do not forget to push button English above to translate.