Over the past 20 years compost has become a standard amendment for landscape site soils and topsoil mixes, but specifications are far from standardized. While regional and project-specific conditions require variation in compost quality, there are basic parameters that every compost should meet for use in landscapes. There are also some common provisions that should… More
Over 20 years ago, the City of Del Mar along the southern California coastline began a citywide process to improve streetscapes with the intention to preserve and enhance the tangible qualities of the community. In 2019, construction began of the downtown streetscape portion, which will bring these concepts to fruition, building up the commercial center of… More
Over the last several years, DeepRoot has written about reusing urban soils as a planting medium. To date, the following have been covered via the DeepRoot blog: Reusing Existing Urban Soil for Planting Urban Soil Assessment and Reuse: Part 1 and Part 2 Search for the “Perfect” Soil Specification The articles above create a basis… More
Susan Day and her team at Virginia Tech published a paper earlier this year about a soil rehabilitation technique called Soil Profile Rebuilding, or SPR. They were looking for a way to rehabilitate soils damaged by land development in a way that would restore their biological function and be more supportive of plant growth. I… More
This post was originally published on the Soils Matter blog. One of soil’s many important functions is to act like a sponge. As nature’s blanket, soil soaks up water that falls as rain or melts from snow and ice. Soil not only stores water, it also helps to filter out pollutants such as nutrients, bacteria,… More
If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you know we’ve had a recent spate of articles about biochard – from its history, to a discussion of possible applications and controversies, to a question-and-answer following a recent webinar about what designers need to know about the product. Because of the tremendous potential for… More
In previous blog posts we discussed the history of biochar, we offered our thoughts on its possible application, and examined potential controversies. Most recently, we interviewed Kelby Fite about his work with biochar and held a webinar to discuss what designers need to know about the product. The following post is a collection of questions… More
Bioretention media is an important topic in the design world. As green infrastructure solutions gain acceptance, there is increased focus on finding the most effective media for on-site stormwater management. But there isn’t (yet) a lot of agreement on what the media consists of, and how to make it both functional for stormwater while being… More
Dr. Kelby Fite is a national leader in the use of biochar to improve tree health. Kelby is an Arboricultural Researcher at Bartlett Tree Laboratory in Charlotte, North Carolina — a 350 acre private arboretum, diagnostic laboratory, and exceptional applied research center. His specialties are root biology and urban soil renovation. Kelby has a PhD…. More
Imported soil specifications have evolved over the last 30 years to become quite specific about products. Frequently, they appear to be iron-clad descriptions of the most optimum soil; many specification writers would like us to think that even minor deviations from these documents will result in horticultural disasters. But “standard” specifications are not one-size-fits-all. Many… More
There is extensive evidence that soil is an amazing tool for improving the quality of water runoff, for reducing peak flow volume, and for storing water for use by the tree and for groundwater recharge in urban settings. We also know that trees in soil are basically “added capacity” – that is, while the soil… More
It’s not unusual to find a piece of art or jewelry over 500 years old in a museum’s collection. These precious artifacts are (rightly) treated with great care commensurate with their value. Yet an inch of topsoil, which may have taken more than 500 years to develop, is commonly abused, mismanaged or discarded in the… More
Soil. Stormwater. Sustainable Infrastructure.
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