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Bloom: A healthy soil system
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Anonymous user Tue May 29, 2007 09:11:13 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments With such a nice spring, most of you have already replaced some frost-damaged material and added a few annuals to your landscape. If you’ve had trouble with any of your newly planted material, this article may be of some help. Often it is not the plant material or the way it was planted, but the soil it was planted in. It is a good idea to have your soil tested every two years, especially if your home is in a newly developed neighborhood.
The first thing to remember is that healthy soil is a living, breathing system. It’s a complete, complex food web filled with interdependent organic and inorganic components. Thriving topsoil contains the mechanical, chemical, and biological properties needed to sustain plant growth. It contains essential minerals, air, water, a wide variety of living organisms, and the decaying remains of dead ones.
This organic content of soil is known as biomass. It plays a huge role in maintaining optimal soil texture and ensuring the availability of essential nutrients. Living organisms work as a sort of underground recycling factory that retrieves nutrients out of decaying organic matter and converts it for use by living plants.
Plants themselves are key components of the soil’s food web. They contribute to the system by providing roots and decomposing plant litter that gives energy to soil organisms. In turn, their own healthy growth depends upon the presence and optimal functioning of the rest of the players.
Among these key players are other living organisms. Form earthworms to nematodes to microscopic bacteria and fungi, millions of living organisms work together to till the earth, decompose organic matter, release nutrients, and deliver them back to plants.
For plants to use nutrients, they must be available in mineral form. Chemical fertilizers provide nutrients in a usable form. When microbes decompose organic matter, they convert the nutrients stored in that matter back into their chemical form for plants to take up through their roots. When microbes have finished their work of breaking down organic material, what remains is humus, the fluffy dark matter at the bottom of a thoroughly decomposed compost heap. Humus gives soil its loose, porous texture, is excellent at holding onto moisture, and helps keep nutrients available for plants to use when they need them. It also helps balance the pH of the soil. The production of humus is something only microbes can do. During the process, microbes add another bonus: they secrete sticky gums that help bind soil together, further improving texture. Simply put, without microbes, soil would be nowhere.
In a healthy soil, these biological and chemical processes have been working together over many years to produce soil that, among other things, maintains a porous crumbly texture; holds water; resists erosion; provides a continuous supply of nutrients; and filters out harmful materials.
In trying to restore a proper soil balance, remember that your current soil may be quite different from its original content before your homesite was developed. The components of healthy soil did not develop overnight, but can be lost overnight with typical neighborhood development. When topsoil is removed, the underlying soil is often sterile and compact. It lacks the porosity needed for water, nutrients, and living things to move freely. It lacks the soil binding properties created by microbial activity. It may lack the essential minerals that were available in the soil before, and it may suffer from poor pH balance. Get your soil tested.
Since there is such a wide variety of soils in our area, be careful of adding amendments for the sake of doing something. Compost will only add to the non-porous condition of clay. Compost, along with fertilizer and minerals, must be worked into the soil in the proper amounts for it to be effective. Dense, rocky soils need to be treated with a product that will help it receive any amendments to improve its condition. A wide variety of amendments can give soil the boost it needs to greatly increase the chances for successful vegetation. Don’t become discouraged, this first year of constant attention to your soil will show dramatically in the second year. Consider the thought that you are laying in a foundation for the future landscape that will complement your home and add a pleasurable living area to your home.

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