soil and roots

It all starts in the dirt and Calgary’s yards are notorious for having some of the poorest quality soil. Generally urban trees in Calgary struggle against the odds, miraculously extracting water and nutrition from shallow soils dominated by clay, silt and rock. Our soil and roots services place an emphasis on returning as much organic material to the soil as possible in order continually improve it’s nutrient content, aeration and biodiversity.

When thinking about soil nutrition, we place an emphasis on the biodiversity of soil, because the multitude of living organisms, molds, fungus, bacteria and of course roots all interact in a mutually beneficial manner. Hyphae, the fungal analogue of roots, is known to symbiotically interact with tree hair roots and greatly improve both water and nutrient uptake.

A soil amendment as simple as the arborist mulch over the root area of your trees can greatly improve soil biodiversity, reduce water loss to evaporation and prevent compaction. Instead of fertilization, the retention of organic material in your soil offers a slow nutrient release and contributes the a steady and consistent growth pattern for your trees.

Mulching can be combined with other soil amendments such a compost that is high in soluble organic carbon.

Let us know if you’re interested in natural, long lasting and cost effective soil amendments.

For further reading regarding mulch options consider reading Mulches: The Good, the bad, and the really, really ugly by Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott.