Soils & Roots
A tree in a forest exists within a massive and complex support system, being directly and indirectly helped by microbes within the soil, neighboring trees, and even by animals. A tree in the urban forest exists in isolation from most of the complex systems found in its natural habitat, which often results in difficult growing conditions for the tree.
Modern approaches to soil care aims to improve biodiversity within soils. Many practices in traditional tree soil care have been adopted from agriculture, which can have a litany of adverse and unintended consequences for trees. Forcing growth for its own sake is not necessarily a goal when trying to extend the lives of trees.
We focus on enhancing soil biodiversity within dedicated soil improvement zones beneath trees, pictured below.
A very large soil improvement zone we developed beneath an old sugar maple, Rochester Hills, MI
The symptoms of soil and root issues aren't obvious until long after the problem started. To the untrained eye, chronic symptoms are easy to miss.
Some pertinent signs the soil beneath your trees could use some attention:
A buried root flare
Flooding
Major disturbance such as digging, grading, or construction