“Lovingly” Preparing the Soil for Planting

by: Gilbert A Smith, ISA BC Master Arborist
Backyard Wisdom September 2019

Years down the road from the time your landscape was originally planted, Arborsmith Ltd. is called in to diagnose tree problems. Why is my River Birch doing so poorly when my neighbor’s is healthy? It is hard to answer that question without going back to the original construction. Most of our tree problems begin and end with the soil. We can’t see under the ground. We can test the soil and sample the leaves but all we have to do is move 10 feet away and the soil conditions change. Let me tell you the story of a typical suburban soil and how it affects tree health.