There are 3 main types of soil: sand, silt and clay. No one type is ideal for trees of every species.
How does a soil’s level of compaction affect the tree that is growing in that compacted ground?
The compacted ground limits the movement of water. Because there is less water reaching the roots, each root has trouble penetrating the soil.
How could a homeowner regulate for compaction and poor drainage?
Check for the appearance of moss around a tree. That is a sign of stagnate water. Establish a good watering schedule. Roots tend to reach deeper into moist soil. The roots’ movement helps to keep that area of ground from becoming compacted.
Be sure to water at the right time of day, which means watering early in the morning, or in the late evening. If roots were to head towards the soil’s surface while the sun was out, then that could cause them to suffer damage from exposure to the sun’s hot rays.
Damaged roots would not penetrate the soil. As a result, that same ground would become compacted. Add compost to dry soil.Put mulch on the ground’s surface. Suggested sources of mulch are wood chips or pieces of bark. Be sure to limit the thickness of the mulch covering. It should not be more than 3 to 4 inches thick.
Tree Service in Palo Alto will ask you to limit the amount of foot traffic around the tree. The approach used for achieving that goal usually depends on the size of the planted object. A young sapling would need a screen around it. Older trees could benefit from the presence of a garden, with flowers covering the trees’ roots.
What aspects of a yard’s landscape might lead to poor drainage?
The drainpipe from the gutters might cause an excess amount of water to flow over certain portions of the yard. In order to correct for that problem, the water from the gutters ought to be diverted to a spot where it should not wash over a large amount of soil. Creation of a rock garden around a tree might encourage the pooling of water at the bottom of that rock-filled hole. In other words, there would not be a sufficient level of drainage in that one part of the property. That could put the garden-encircled tree in danger.
A property with 2 levels could become a drainage problem. It should feature some type of reinforcement of the soil wherever the ground must descend from the upper to the lower level. Rocks or large logs might be used to create an attractive but essential reinforcement. A cement staircase could reinforce one section, but not the entire expanse of the area at the top of the higher level.