The Scoop on Soil

Did you know that poor soils cause 90% of tree health issues? Without good soil, trees have difficulty obtaining water, nutrients, support, and oxygen - yes, roots need to breathe! This makes it easier for pests, diseases, and severe weather events to wreak havoc.

Our urban soils are often damaged by activities like construction and compaction, causing poor tree health. Here's how to improve poor soils and keep tree health issues at bay!

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Common Soil Problems &
How to Fix Them!

1. Nutrient-Poor Soil

Solutions:

  1. Essential Plus - All-purpose soil amendment of nutrients, rooting hormones, wetting agents, and biostimulants. Liquid formula delivers nutrients directly to the tree's roots.
  2. Micrel Total - Contains nitrogen and eight micronutrients often deficient in urban soils. Use if your trees and soils lack micronutrients like iron, zinc, and boron.
  3. Mulch - Trees love mulch! Mulch provides organic matter, weed suppression, water retention, and temperature insulation. Plus, it's cheap and easy to apply!
natural-mulch-landscape

2. Compacted Soil

Compacted soil has very few air pockets, causing root suffocation, low microbial activity, and water runoff & waste! Basically, it weakens trees!

Solutions:

  1. Mulch, again - Ok, you already know the nutrient benefits of mulch. But mulch also combats compaction. When it breaks down, the organic matter and microbes improve soil aeration, increase water absorption, and reduce compaction.
  2. Biochar - Biochar is a granular carbon product made by burning organic material. It is highly porous and carbon-rich, improving soil structure and encouraging microbial growth.
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Biochar and Essential Plus combo treatment.

3. Small Soil Volumes

Solutions

  1. Make sure the soil has enough nutrients and isn't compacted. Basically what we've just discussed, except it's even more important when trees have small soil volumes to grow in!
  2. Tree Growth Regulator (TGR) - This is a synthetic growth hormone blocker. One treatment reduces tree growth by up to 80% over a 3-year period. Perfect for small spaces! Plus, it reduces pruning needs and has added benefits of improving root growth, disease resistance, and drought tolerance.
TGR_comparison

Tree Growth Regulator Results from One Application