The Nutrient Cycle - Soil: Reflections on the Basis of our Existence - page 98

I saw extensive evidence of fire on the ancient island pines, though it was not
until I visited Muddus National Park—300 km to the north—that I witnessed the
ravages of a fire at first hand. The southern part of the park is stony and the pri-
mary pine forest has experienced regular fires every two to three hundred years.
The forest is magical, with large, moss-clad boulders, twisted tree trunks, lichen-
draped branches and a soft carpet of bilberry and lingonberry bushes. Then, all of
a sudden, a disturbing clearing of bare boulders and blackened trunks appeared:
the site of a fire two years earlier. At first glance the ground looked dead, but
on closer inspection there were signs of life. Tiny bilberry shoots were poking
through the ash and green lichens were colonising the damper areas. Most impres-
sive of all was the fireweed, its vivid blooms a splash of colour among the black-
ened trees. As its name implies, fireweed is quick to colonise burnt ground after
forest fires, taking advantage of the absence of competing vegetation.
When the Grass Really Is Greener?
Everything ultimately decomposes and degrades into gases and minerals.
Sometimes conditions are not optimal and the process takes longer, as in the case
of the Bocksten Man. By contrast, the decomposition cycle is fastest in rainforests,
where plant matter breaks down so fast that humus has no time to form. The com-
bination of sparse soil and rich vegetation found in tropical forests reminds me of
Nils ￅkerstedt, the father of cover-crop growing. In his topics, ￅkerstedt claims
it is possible to grow anything in nutrient-poor soil provided one applies a thick
top layer of grass clippings. With their perfect blend of carbon and nitrogen and
good aeration, grass clippings facilitate rapid decomposition—mimicking rain-
forest conditions. In fact, grass clippings are superior because they are fresh and
have lost no nutrients; trees reabsorb some nutrients before shedding their leaves.
In dry conditions you need to water the clippings to maintain the decomposition
process. Having seen Nils's magnificent roses and impressive vegetables, I can tes-
tify that he is a true grass guru. Even rhododendrons, which will only grow in rich,
acidic soil, thrive in his sandy beds. He told me he began his experiments in a
greenhouse more than thirty years ago when a delivery of soil he had ordered did
not turn up, forcing him to plant directly in the bed of sand he had prepared as a
planting base. He covered the plants with grass clippings so they did not dry out
before the soil arrived, but after seeing how fast they grew decided never to buy
soil again. From then on, he planted all his plants in sand and simply covered the
sand with grass clippings. I wonder if he has ever visited a rainforest. Perhaps he
was an Huaorani in a previous life.