There is a lot of caliche under or on top of the soil in West Texas. Cliche is a layer of calcium carbonate that has lime combined with it to form a soft to medium hard rock layer.

Caliche is usually a light to white or cream colored layer under the topsoil. This layer can be anywhere from a couple of inches thick to several feet thick, these layers are a lot like the formation of broken rock.
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Caliche can cause major problems in the yard or garden. It can pack so tightly that the roots cannot penetrate this layer. This results in roots that are shallow and therefore limited to the nutrients, moisture and air in the top portion of the soil. The plant roots laying on this layer will also soak up the salt deposits in the roots and cause problems also.

Caliche can also cause root rot because this layer is virtually waterproof. It won't let the water drain thru it so the roots will stay wet.

Caliche usually has high pH balance and also robs the ground of iron and will cause a yellowing of the leaves of the grass and plants. Thus causing the plants and grass because of shallow root systems to die off quickly and generally have poor growth.

How to get around the caliche problem.

GRASS
You can dig the soil up and see how much soil you have to work with. This will be labor intensive but will give you a good idea of what your soil is made up of. If you have six to eight inches of soil above the caliche then you should be alright to plant grass. If it is less than six inches then you will either need to add more top soil or compost or peat moss to your soil. This will add bulk to your soil and increase the space above the caliche.

PLANTS
When planting plants you will need at the minimum of twelve inches. Eighteen inches would be even better. You can either add more compost, peat moss to the top soil.

TREES
You will want to dig as much of the caliche out in the area where you want to plant the tree. If you can get thru the caliche where the roots can grow the better off the tree will grow. If getting thru the caliche is a problem then you will want to dig down as far as it is practical and fill the bottom of the hole with wood chips, peat moss, compost and top soil to keep the roots from laying on the caliche.

The diameter of the hole should be at least three times the size of the root ball. The bigger the better. You will not want to replace the soil and caliche back into the hole. You can discard the soil somewhere else. Then fill the hole with fresh top soil. This will give the tree a good head start. (You don't have to dig all the caliche out of the hole if it is very thick, you can dig a cone shaped hole thru the caliche. This will allow water to drain down and away from the root system).

You can test the water drainage of the hole. By checking with the County Extension Agent. He/she can give you the adequate drainage formula for your area. Usually you can figure that if you partially fill the hole with water and the water drops 2 inches in 2 hours. Then the drainage is adequate. Now depending on the size of the hole in the bottom will vary the drainage.

SUMMARY
1. Caliche can cause plant growth problems by:
Restricting root penetration.
Restricting water penetration, resulting in poor root aeration and potential salt accumulations.
Causing iron to become unavailable to the plants.

2. If possible, remove the caliche before planting. Make planting holes large enough for a mature root system.
3. Before planting, make certain water drains from the planting hole.
4. Replace the caliche with good top soil or a soil mix. Discard the caliche.
5. Lawns should be grown only where there are at least eight inches of good top soil above the caliche.

Happy Gardening
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