San Diego, CA
Essential to the quest for rose-growing success: soil
Leonardo da Vinci famously mused in the fifteenth century that “we know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” Just as mind-boggling, the U.S. Forest Service tells us that “Soil is a complex, living system that serves as the skin of the earth. In just one thimble full of soil, you can expect to find 100 million to one billion bacteria, several thousand protozoa and 10 to several hundred nematodes. Dirt is literally squirming with insects, nutrients and life.”
The soil food web is the biologically active part of the soil, which is vital for growing healthy plants. As gardeners, our hands are often in contact with the soil, but unless we have studied botany or horticulture, most of us know very little about the soil in our gardens, other than the fact that our soil anchors and supports our plants’ roots and nourishes the parts of the plant aboveground. It is critical that we gardeners care as much for our soil as we do for our plants.
‘Just-right’ soil
Goldilocks was on a quest to find the “just-right” porridge and a “just-right” bed. If we were on a quest to pinpoint “just-right” soil, these are the attributes we would be looking for.
Texture: Soil can be sandy, silty, loamy or clayey (yes, this is the adjective for clay soil). Soil texture refers to the proportion of sizes of the various particles that make up the soil. Sandy soil has the largest particles. The next largest are silt and the smallest particles are clay. Loam is the best textured soil and contains about 40 percent sand, 40 percent silt and 20 percent clay. Loamy soil is ideal for many reasons including being well aerated and easily penetrated by roots.
Structure: Soil structure refers to the arrangement or aggregation of mineral and organic soil particles and the spaces between them. A just-right soil structure allows the soil to “breathe” and enables both movement and retention of water, air and nutrients. It also provides space for root growth.
Water-holding capacity: Water is delivered to plants from their roots. Water keeps plants turgid and is indispensable to the processes of photosynthesis, transpiration and the transport of nutrients from the soil to the plant. For these reasons, soil needs to hold and release just the right amount of water. Do a drainage test by digging a 1-foot-by-1-foot hole and filling it with water. Let it drain, refill it and time how long it takes to drain. In well-drained soil, the water level will go down at a rate of around 1 inch an hour. Less than that and drainage is inadequate, which is the case in very clayey and compacted soils. Very sandy soils drain too fast, which can deprive plants of sufficient water for their needs. Both sandy and clay soils can be improved with the addition of compost.
Fertility: A fertile, nutrient-rich soil is necessary to supply plants with the macronutrients and micronutrients needed in the proper form for plants’ roots to absorb them. Organic material such as well-rotted plant and animal residues provide soil fertility. Good soils contain 3 to 6 percent organic matter. We can improve our soil’s fertility, texture, water-holding capacity and soil aeration when we amend our soil with organic amendments such as worm castings, manure and compost. These amendments provide a food source for microbes, which can help soil structure regenerate.
Soil pH: An optimal pH is vital to the release of nutrients in the soil to the plant, so a correct pH level makes a huge difference to the health of our plants. Most plants grow best in slightly acidic to neutral soil (a pH between 6.0 and 7.0). The “just-right” pH for roses is a soil that tests between 6.0 and 6.5. An alkaline pH (typical in San Diego) can be adjusted with the addition of sulfur. A too-low pH can be adjusted with the addition of lime.
Soil porosity: Maintaining good air-filled porosity is important, as plants’ roots and soil organisms need oxygen. In water-logged clay soils and compacted soils, porosity decreases, which can limit root growth. Especially under wet conditions, we should refrain from tilling the soil or stepping on the soil, as both actions can lead to compaction.
Soil management and improvement
We may not be able to make our garden soil ideal or “just-right,” but we can take certain actions that will help improve our soil.
Avoid compaction: The lack of oxygen in compacted soils greatly limits plant growth because the lack of oxygen prevents good root growth. Compaction also decreases the micro-organisms inhabiting the soil that change organic matter in the soil into nutrients that plants can use. Is there anything we can do to avoid compacting our soil? Absolutely! Try to avoid walking in garden beds and step as much as possible only on steppingstones. Postpone your plans to work in your garden when the soil is wet after a rain. Limit tilling and spading the soil, as this damages soil structure, especially when the soil is wet.
Amendments to improve soil: Soil amendments such as worm castings and compost improve soil texture, structure, water-holding capacity, fertility, pH and soil porosity. In addition, the nutrients contribute to the soil biota, which help the plant uptake nutrients from the soil. Instead of digging the amendments into the soil, layer the worm castings and compost on top of the soil. Earthworms and other soil organisms will move the organic material into the soil. Adding liquid amendments like liquid humic acid, liquid kelp or seaweed, alfalfa tea or liquid fish emulsion is also a good way to enrich the soil without digging, and these products stimulate the growth of micro-organisms in the soil. Our best option to improve texture, drainage and nutrients in a clay soil and a sandy soil is to add organic materials.
Some rosarians will add gypsum (calcium sulfate) to clay soil to improve structure, compaction and drainage. Jolene Adams, master rosarian and past American Rose Society president, provides evidence in her article, “Will Gypsum Improve Clay Soil” that gypsum can help only a “sodic soil” — a soil with high levels of sodium and low levels of calcium and magnesium. Since the majority of clay soils are not sodic, Adams advises not giving in to the marketing hype and to get a lab test before using gypsum.
Organic mulch: There is a lot to be said for all the benefits that a good organic mulch can provide to the soil. It helps soil retain moisture for plant use, reduces erosion, improves soil structure over time, improves biological activity in our soil, impedes weed growth and it gives the garden beds a finished and attractive appearance. Mulch needs to be applied annually. When applying mulch, do not cover the canes or trunk of your plants.
Kick the chemical fertilizer habit: Synthetic fertilizers are lab-made and faster acting so they boost and expedite plant growth and bloom rate. However, these fertilizers are high in salts and do nothing to improve our soil’s health, texture or long-term fertility. They can be detrimental to populations of beneficial micro-organisms, and too much can “burn” our plants.
Cut out unnecessary fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides: Proper fertilization enhances plant growth without polluting the environment. Too much unnecessary fertilizer, pesticide and fungicide can not only injure, burn and kill a plant, they can also mess up and poison our soil and the soil organisms. Additionally, when these products are overused, they can run off into the ocean, lakes and streams.
Soil test: How can you tell if you are using an unnecessary amount of fertilizer? In addition to the pH of your soil, a soil test will tell you if your soil is deficient in nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium or any of the micronutrients. For a healthy soil and healthy plants, add only the nutrients your soil needs. Epsom salt has been added to rose gardens for decades by conscientious rosarians in the belief that epsom salt prompts basal breaks. But research shows there is no value to this practice unless soil is deficient in magnesium.
What is the top secret to success for gardeners? Take care of the soil, and it will take care of the rest.
Perwich is a member of the San Diego Rose Society, a Consulting Rosarian and a Master Gardener with UC Cooperative Extension.
Marne Royce Hadden
OBITUARY
Marne Royce Hadden died in hospice on December 8, 2025 after a brave battle with cancer. She was predeceased by her parents and brother, Alex, and is survived by four siblings.
She was born on November 4, 1951 at Huntington Memorial in Pasadena, California, the fourth child of Wesley and Dorothy Hadden. Until she was seven, Marne lived with her family at the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena where her maternal grandfather, Stephen W. Royce, was the owner and managing director, and her father, the assistant sales manager. In the summer of 1958, the Hadden family moved to Rancho Santa Fe to run the Royce family’s recently acquired Inn at Rancho Santa Fe.
The Ranch in the early ’60s – a tranquil village with a market, library, hardware store, and gift shops – was magical for most children, but even more so for Marne who had the run of the Inn’s beautiful grounds, attended the local school, kept chickens and baby quail as pets, and learned to ride. She soon became an accomplished equestrienne competing in horse shows around the state with her trusty steed, Rocky Neil, and collecting scores of blue ribbons across multiple events from western bareback to stock horse equitation. At The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, Marne was a popular student athlete and captain of the Royal Purples in her senior year. She graduated with the class of 1969 and went on to Pine Manor Junior College in Brookline, Massachusetts, where she made the honor list in the winter term of her freshman year.
Tragically, Marne suffered a scuba diving accident in the late summer of 1970 that left her disabled for the rest of her life. Diminished but ever resilient and surrounded, supported, and cared for by family and friends, Marne persevered in her inimitable style. She found childlike joy in everything she did from baking cookies, coloring, playing dominoes to weekly visits to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park with Suzanne Keil, her dear friend and constant companion. Marne was also lovingly cared for by her caregiver, Linda Tate the last 10 years of her life.
For years, Marne proudly led her pygmy goats, Friday and Harbor, in the 4th of July parade and rode her large tricycle to the Helen Woodward Animal Center where she volunteered and participated in the handicapped riding program, often stopping by the Chino Farm on her way home for the watermelons she loved and the corn they cooked for her.
In recent years, Marne loved visits to the beach and programs at the Rancho Santa Fe Senior Center, across the street from the lovely home she was raised and lived in for nearly 70 years.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Hellen Woodward Animal Center. A private memorial service will be held at a later time.
Despite stormy weather, San Diego County residents will still have plenty of opportunities to celebrate Christmas in festive and spiritual ways.
From worship services to community meals and holiday celebrations, organizations across the region are opening their doors.
Scheduled Christmas Day religious services include:
— Church of the Resurrection, 1445 Conway Drive, Escondido: Mass at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. in English, and at noon in Spanish;
— St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 1450 S. Melrose Drive, Oceanside: Mass at 9:30 a.m.;
— St. Michael’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 2775 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad: Mass beginning at 9:30 a.m.;
— St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 890 Balour Drive, Encinitas: Christmas worship service at 9:30 a.m.; and
— St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 334 14th St., Del Mar: Christmas service at 10 a.m.
Elsewhere in San Diego County:
— Beginning at 8 a.m., the eighth annual Shane Harris Community Christmas Day breakfast and gift giveaway will be held at Columbus Hall, 4425 Home Ave. Held to benefit for foster families, unsheltered youth and struggling families, the event will include two wrapped gifts, free breakfast for families and 15 tons of snow; and
— At 11 a.m., Serving Seniors will host a holiday dinner featuring entertainment, for older adults at the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center. John Conroy, a Serving Seniors client who was formerly homeless, will play piano, and others will also receive holiday gift bags with practical items.
In a statement, Harris said the holiday breakfast event exists because “Christmas morning can be incredibly lonely for families facing hardship.”
“This is about creating a home, a table, and a moment of joy for families who need it most,” he said. “Seeing this grow into a citywide tradition has been incredibly humbling.”
Meanwhile, administrative offices and some city of San Diego facilities will see limited closures on Christmas Eve, with most facilities closed on Christmas Day. All city administrative offices will be closed Thursday.
Police and Fire-Rescue services will operate on normal schedules. County animal shelters, family resource centers, health clinics, libraries and public offices will be closed Thursday, but law enforcement and emergency animal control services will continue operating.
County campgrounds and parks will remain open on the holiday. However, the following community facilities will be closed: Adams Park Pool; community centers in Fallbrook, Lakeside, Spring Valley and teen community centers; the 4S Ranch Recreation Office; Spring Valley Gymnasium; and Valley Center Community Hall.
On Christmas Day, the Metropolitan Transit System will offer free rides, as part of a promotion.
“Every fare-paying adult passenger can bring one guest along at no additional cost,” MTS officials said in a statement.
According to MTS, on Thursday:
— All trolley lines will operate every 30 minutes, while most bus routes will operate on a Sunday schedule;
— No service will be available on Rapid Express Routes 280 or 290, and Rural Routes 888, 891, 892 and 894;
— MTS Access subscription passengers needing service must call ahead of time to arrange their transportation; and
— Holiday travelers may use direct connections to San Diego International Airport, via Route 992 adjacent to Santa Fe Depot or the San Diego Airport Flyer from the Old Town Transit Center.
An anti-sex trafficking operation carried out by law enforcement agencies in San Diego, Chula Vista and National City earlier this month resulted in 10 arrests and the recovery of 19 alleged trafficking victims, it was announced Tuesday.
Operation Home for the Holidays was conducted over a three-day period and involved undercover officers posing as sex buyers in order to encounter potential traffickers and trafficking victims.
Those arrested during the operation include four men charged with pimping, pandering and violating a protective order, who face anywhere between six and 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. Six others were issued misdemeanor citations for allegedly attempting to purchase sex.
The 19 recovered individuals were offered support services, which the DA’s Office said will “help them escape and heal from exploitation and human trafficking.”
Operation Home for the Holidays is an annual initiative conducted by the multi-agency San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement that the operation “is a key part of our efforts to keep our communities safe for the holidays and all year round.”
Similar operations are conducted throughout the year in San Diego County, including an annual operation held during Comic-Con weekend that resulted in 13 arrests and 10 victims recovered this year, and an operation conducted last month in National City and southern San Diego that led to the rescues of two minors.
“The ugly truth is that sex trafficking remains a lucrative criminal industry fueled by demand that generating over $810 million a year in San Diego County,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said.
“I’m proud of our work with the San Diego Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, my office’s Sex Crimes and Human Trafficking Division and all our partners that work around the clock to recover victims as young as 12. Together they hold human traffickers and criminal buyers accountable for their crimes. The ongoing efforts of the task force demonstrate that law enforcement will not tolerate this modern-day slavery of vulnerable victims who are bought and sold like a slice of pizza.”
Officials asked that anyone who is or knows someone being coerced or forced to engage in sexual activity or labor call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to access help.
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