Case Study: Watch How Soil Improvement Turned this Tree from Sickly to Stately
This magnolia tree was wholly transformed by the reintroduction of healthy, living soil.
Healthy soil is the foundation for healthy trees and shrubs. However, it can be difficult to see how soil is improving the health of plants because we don't have x-ray vision to see underground. The soil is just there, doing its job. Right?
The short answer is yes, but not all soil is created equal.
There is a difference between dead dirt and healthy soil.
Healthy soil is alive!
It is teeming with earthworms, nematodes, fungi, and all of the other organisms that make up the soil food web. But soil can become compacted over time due to human activity (equipment, foot traffic, etc.) The creatures living in the soil suffer. The fluffy, healthy soil becomes compacted, dead dirt. Any plants growing in these conditions will struggle.
To enhance degraded soil, we use high-powered air tools to break apart the dirt, and then add compost, many species of fungi, a select blend of beneficial bacteria, and much more.
Our goal is to transform dead dirt back to its original state of healthy soil, providing a rich foundation from which your trees can flourish.
Before
In 2012, a client reached out to us because she had a magnolia tree that was struggling. In the before picture, the tree is barely visible. It is not much taller than the ornamental grasses that mostly obscure it.
After
After a couple of years of soil improvement including air spading and introducing organic matter into the soil, this magnolia transformed into the stately tree pictured here.
It is hard to believe that it is even the same plant!
Let’s see those two plants side-by-side:
After seeing this transformation firsthand, the client became a soil health convert.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve learned that soil is truly the infrastructure to an optimal plant…The change for this magnolia is so dramatic that I have to stress how LITTLE work it was! That tree just needed the right nutrients.”
This magnolia tree was wholly transformed by the reintroduction of healthy, living soil.
It might seem like magic, but a little bit of soil improvement can go a long way.
Have questions about soil? Want to share a soil success story? We would love to hear all about them. Send us a note.
