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Goal to manage soils to:
- Readily infiltrate stormwater
- Store stormwater in the upper reaches of the soil
profile
- Not erode
Healthy Soil Healthy Plants Healthy Systems Clean Water Summit - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Healthy Soil Healthy Plants Healthy Systems Clean Water Summit - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Healthy Soil Healthy Plants Healthy Systems Clean Water Summit 2012 Fred Rozumalski Landscape Architect, Ecologist Barr Engineering Company Goal to manage soils to: Readily infiltrate stormwater Store stormwater in the upper
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Goal: To build soils that support resilient plant communities that are:
- Resist insects and disease
- Drought tolerant
- Productive
- Low maintenance
- Long lived
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How? By building and retaining soil structure.
Pedons
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How does soil structure naturally develop?
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Source: Natural Resources Conservation Service
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Plants fuel the system that builds soil structure.
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Mycorrhizal Fungi Bacteria
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Function of Microbes
- Decompose organic matter and develop humus
- Bind soil particles together to form pedons
- Enhance soil permeability
- Promote deeper root growth and therefore greater deep root
water retention
- Protect plants from diseases and parasites
- Retain and convert nutrients into plant available forms
- Convert, degrade, or bind pollutants that find their way into soil
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Benefits of Mycorrhizae:
- Enhanced water and nutrient uptake
- Reduced irrigation requirements
- Reduced fertilizer requirements
- Better drought resistance
- Better pathogen resistance
- Increased ability to tolerate stress
- Higher transplanting success
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Protozoa Nematode
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Source: Natural Resources Conservation Service
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Source: U.S. Post Office
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Role of Plants in Soil Systems
- Prevents erosion
- Shade the soil which limits desiccation
- Keeps soils cool
- Mechanically opens the soil
- Allow for better water infiltration
- Allow for water storage in the upper soil profile
- Feeds the microbial community
- Deeply inject compost
- Keep nutrients cycling
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Source: The Robinson Library
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Root System of Corn 8 Weeks Old
Grid equals one-square-foot boxes.
Root System of Mature Corn Plant
7 Feet 4 Feet Source: Root Development of Vegetable Crops, by John Weaver & Wm. Bruner. 1927
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Creeping bentgrass roots In ideal growing conditions Kentucky bluegrass roots can grow 14” deep.
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Soil Abuses
- Compaction and crusting
- Fertilizers and Pesticides
- Deicing salts
- Contamination
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Soil Management
- Prevent soil disturbance
- Prevent soil erosion
- Prevent soil compaction
- Initiate a soil structure building process
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Building Soil Structure
- De-compact soil
- And deeply incorporate fully decomposed compost
- Introduce microbes via compost tea (maybe)
- Plant nitrogen fixing and nutrient accumulating
plants
- Keep soil mulched
- Add organic matter each year
- PREVENT further soil compaction
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De-compact soil
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De-compact soil through double digging and incorporating compost
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Compost Tea
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- Avoid monocultures
- Plant a diversity of species
- Plant nitrogen fixing plants
- Plant dynamic nutrient accumulators
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Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria (Rhizobium) Nodules on Soybean Roots
Nitrogen Fixing Plants:
- Hog peanut
- Clovers
- Alfalfa
- Lead plant
- New Jersey tea
- Sweetfern
- Wild indigos
- Vetches
- Black locust
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Dynamic Nutrient Accumulators:
- Shagbark hickory
- Black walnut
- Lupine
- Black locust
- Sorrels and docks
- Comfreys
- Dandelion
- Basswood
- Vetches
Comfrey
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Green Manure and Cover Crops
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Mulch:
- To prevent erosion
- To enhance water percolation
- To retain moisture and nutrients
- To keep soil cool
- To feed the microbial community
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Stay off the soil!
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Conclusion
- Soils are a habitat for living organisms
- Invest in your soils
- Build soil structure
- Feed the system every year
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