Tree remediation

KevinS

KevinS

Branched out member
Location
ontario
We have a client who is a landscape/snow removal company that does a few big plazas,etc.
Walmart's, homedepots, strip mall plazas.
They have large parking lots, sidewalk and boulevards all with trees in them.
We go in and do fertilizing usually each year. The trees are all small half dead and crap but they 'leaf out' so they're OK.

Alot of it I'm sure is poor stock crap soil no care compacted soil and salt are the prime culprits.
How do you guys deal with this?

My thought is to air excavate root zone/ planters or at least airerate them and back fill with a soil mix
1/16- myke
1/8- sand
1/4- fertilizer
9/16- triple mix soil

That may fix conditions and fences can help with compaction. But salt resistance? Snow gets plowed on blvds. Salt is spread everywhere and in high doses so in the spring it can't help but be there.

Anyway thoughts?
 
It sounds to me like you need to hire somebody with soils experience. An experienced person would know that testing, even a couple of soil pits will tell you a lot of information.

If you insist on going ahead you need to read the following books as a start.
1) Up by Roots (though the biological section is extremely weak)
2) Soil Science: Step-by-Step Field Analysis
3) Urban Soils: Applications and Practices
4) Soil Microbiology, Ecology, and Biochemistry
5) Teaming with Microbes
6) Teaming with Nutrients

Next you need to read the works of Bryant Scharenbroch and Nina Bassuk. There are also some good papers in JoA.

After this start testing and remediate what you can.

1) Fertilizers are generally not needed
2) Organic matter will be lacking
3) Mulching
4) Myke is not much use
5) Include a few scoops of good soil as microbe inoculate source
6) Don't use triple mix with mushroom compost
7) Partially decayed wood chips may be all you need for back-fill
 
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CV climbing?
Lots to read Mr Tree. Reading won't help in this situation/parking lots in Ontario.
Sell them a management plan 1st. I sold a plan to Toyota, some of the largest parking lots in Ontario. Airports being the largest.
If they don't buy that it shows lack of commitment or lack of budget.
Get the money 1st for a plan or Move on.
 
I am not sure how reading will not help in this situation. You need to know what you are doing before you can do it. If you have not read the relevant works how will you know about soils? How will you create a professional report if you do not know what an M horizon is? How will you test for salt? etc. etc.
 
RopeShield said:
Sell them a management plan 1st.
Click to expand...

How do you sell a management plan when you don't know what it should be? Whereas I agree with the comment about a lot of reading, which poleaxing someone with a list of text books can be daunting to say the least, I do agree with the premise you have to know what you are talking about before making recommendations. If the scope of work is beyond the ability of the professional for the job at hand, consult with someone who has that expertise. If you want to add this area as a service, then start learning.

Determining soil analyses from the various pits would be an excellent start. I would not make the assumption they are consistent due to the variations which may occur during construction. Start with a few spread out over the lot(s). Test the individual soil pits. Do not mix one with another. I would gradually keep testing (budget permitting) until you see a pattern or stability (or not) which you feel gives you sufficient data to go on. In this situation asking for macro, micros, EC, SAR are all pertinent. Do not bother requesting nutrient recommendations from the labs. They don't have criteria for trees. Instead, learn to interpret a soil analysis if you don't already know how.

Soil organic matter is critical to soil health so be sure to include SOM percent in the test. I also like the Solvita/Haney tests which give you a baseline on microbial activity.

To deal with the salt, there are products which can help leach the sodium content out of the soil which may be considered after you get your analyses back.

Regarding reading material. David and I are all about trying to learn more. For starters if you are truly interested in soils, get Brady and Weil's The Nature and Properties of Soils. It is a classic textbook, now on its 14th edition, and is invaluable. From there you can go on with the many references supplied in the book or others. I, personally, feel this book should be required reading for any BCMA. Lowenfells book, Teaming with Nutrients, is very readable and his portion on biology makes this subject very understandable to someone who doesn't want to get too bogged down.

This posted by the "S" in DSmc. Sylvia
 
Sorry I think you missed my point.
The Knowledge is there but not being applied.
It is basic chemistry and botany applied to elemental observations.
 
DSMc said:
Regarding reading material. For starters if you are truly interested in soils, get Brady and Weil's The Nature and Properties of Soils. It is a classic textbook, now on its 14th edition, and is invaluable
Click to expand...

The Nature and Properties of Soils is now in the 15th Edition!
 
Yes inspect and analyze the soil first. Reading is great but inspecting is more to the point.

Consider adding sugar to the soil next fall.

Also tell the guy to plow AWAY from the trees, not onto the trees.
 
Aren't these plow guys your clients? If you don't tell them, who will?

They might want to watch out--the tree owners might hire some consultant who ties the tree condition to the plowing practices, and they'll get suuuuuuuuuuuued!
 
Forget all the fancy tests and concentrate on the most important facets of the soil. A couple of soil pits should give you an indication of the depth, texture and structure of the soil. From here you are going to have a good idea of compaction and water movement, and then you can make some inferences about gas flux. Then it is time to do something useful.

You are managing space, specifically air space in the soil, both macro and micro pores. It is unlikely that the major problem is nutrients, the major problems will be pore space and lack of biologicals. Figure out how you can work on these two problems easily, within a tight budget, and you might have a shot at a contract.

Ultimately you have the second most importance resource readily available, woodchips, compost these, maybe screen them and you have what you need to start remediating the soils which will help the trees.
 
Do you have a scope of work with the client's objectives? Any idea of their annual budget and what their level of commitment is to remediation? Ask about their past expenditures. We went through this with a new client and until we had that there was no point in discussing any sort of management plan.
 
Budget and commitment fit within the context of tree value. If they understand that trees have value and they are obligated to restore the lost value and/or maintain present value, then why should they spend much money?

If they expect a free estimate without paying for a minimal diagnosis, the cart is going before the horse. As a contractor I have done an unpaid inspection on speculation, and planned to recoup that expense of time when getting the job. Sometimes that worked well; often not.

th is right; the work plan can't be developed without a few more facts.
 
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