Love Your Landscape – February 2019

The soil or ‘dirt’ in your landscape, lawn area and garden is the important fuel that supports a beautiful landscape. Plants thrive, grow and become healthy in soil that gives then the “food” they need. Great soil doesn’t just happen or appear in your yard, it’s created intentionally by either importing or amending the soil with the right nutrients.

First, you need to know the current conditions and type of the soil you have. Is it clay, which tends to have poor drainage, or good loam or granitic soil, which tends to have a low-water-holding capacity? Discovering the condition of the soil will give you the right direction. Each specific soil type affects the ability of plants to get what they need to thrive. Soil types affect the amount of oxygen plant roots are able to access, the temperature of the soil, the ability for water to travel throughout the soil, needed for delivering life-giving nutrients. Discovering your soil type will also include the soil pH; whether it is alkaline or acidic.

Once you’ve determined the type of soil, there are several options for amendment. If the soil is terrible you can either embark on the journey of amending it, or you can import pulverized, nutrient-rich soil for your needs. The choice is yours!

If you amend the soil you have many options to choose from. Before I continue, there are a few plant options that do well in heavy clay soils. Trees: Red maple, Crabapple, Sweet Gum and Flowering Pear. Shrubs: Lilac, Forsythia, Burning Bush and Smoke Tree.

Amending soil is as simple as adding nutrients lacking in the existing soil. There are three main types of fertilizer: mineral fertilizers, organic fertilizers and inorganic or chemical fertilizers. Each has its purpose in specific situations. Once you have determined the type of fertilizer you would like to use, it’s time to apply and begin the process of getting the soil to the place where nutrients can begin to feed the plants in your landscape.

Caring for your soil is like caring for the ‘soul’ of your landscape and doing the hard work will pay dividends for the health and beauty of the life you see.