Brad McBride from Davey's West Cleveland office talks about why soil care is vital for tree health, how to check the health of your soil and what else can be done to improve it.
In this episode we cover:
To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.
To learn more about soil care and its importance, watch Brad on Cleveland's local news station, Fox 8's New Day Cleveland show, where you'll see soil props and tools in action. The Importance of Healthy Soil for Tree Growth and How to Improve Your Soil.
To read our blogs about soil care and mulching, check out our blogs on our website, Soil Care and Mulching blogs.
Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
Twitter: @DaveyTree
Facebook: @DaveyTree
Instagram: @daveytree
YouTube: The Davey Tree Expert Company
LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company
Connect with Doug Oster at www.dougoster.com.
Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!
Brad McBride from Davey's West Cleveland office talks about why soil care is vital for tree health, how to check the health of your soil and what else can be done to improve it.
In this episode we cover:
To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.
To learn more about soil care and its importance, watch Brad on Cleveland's local news station, Fox 8's New Day Cleveland show, where you'll see soil props and tools in action. The Importance of Healthy Soil for Tree Growth and How to Improve Your Soil.
To read our blogs about soil care and mulching, check out our blogs on our website, Soil Care and Mulching blogs.
Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
Twitter: @DaveyTree
Facebook: @DaveyTree
Instagram: @daveytree
YouTube: The Davey Tree Expert Company
LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company
Connect with Doug Oster at www.dougoster.com.
Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!
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Doug Oster: Welcome to the Davey Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees podcast, we know trees are the answer.
This week, I'm joined by Brad McBride. He's an assistant district manager, the West Cleveland office of the Davey Tree Expert Company. Today, Brad, it's all about soil and soil health. What comes to mind first?
Brad McBride: Davey has been doing a lot of work to make soil simple, because for a long time, we've understood that fertilization is very important for trees. We developed Arbor Green PRO, we do a deep root soil injection once per year, we developed this fertilizer to mimic the natural nutrients found in a forest setting. When leaves fall, they decompose, there's healthy organic matter, there's good microbial activity, the soil is balanced with pH and everything is perfect. The urban environment doesn't have the benefit of natural nutrient recycling, usually because we clean up our landscapes.
That's a little bit about how we've started to look at soil in three categories. We're looking at the mineral component of soil, which usually involves fertilizers. We're looking at the biological component of soil, which is how much organic material is there? What's the microbial life look like? Is it healthy? Then we look at the physical component of soil, which is what is it made of? Is there good pore space? is the grade good? Is the drainage adequate for the tree? We look at those three categories, physical, biological and mineral when it comes to managing soil health.
Doug: Is that something like when you come out, you'll like, you'll test that? How do you tell all that stuff that's down in the soil?
Brad: You can do soil tests. That may be necessary if you've done what is required for healthy soils. Like I said, the Arbor Green PRO is specifically designed to feed a tree based on its nutrient requirements. At first, you may not need a soil test because you might be able to tell just by looking at it or standing on it or using a crude instrument that it is compacted.
If we're not getting the results we're looking for though, or if there might be a mystery to the site where there may be different soil qualities on different portions of the property, we can do a soil test and we can get an analysis from a laboratory to look at all those components, like what's the pH, what is the soil composed of; sand, silt, clay. What are the mineral contents look like? Microbial respiration, it's very complicated. We try to keep it simple, do what we know is important for trees. If we need to take it to a higher level and get a laboratory analysis, then we have the capability to do that.
Doug: if your tree is reasonably healthy, that once a year Arbor Green is going to do the trick, I would guess. Is that right?
Brad: Yes, for the most part. However, I'm not sure what it's like in other areas, but in Northeast Ohio, we've had two droughts this year. As a matter of fact, it's raining right now a little bit. We're getting a little sprinkle right now, but earlier in the year in May, we had a prolonged drought. Then again, just recently, we've maybe had one decent rain over the past month or so. These tree roots have been exposed to prolonged dry periods. Those fine roots, those fine hairs, they tend to die and that'll put a tree at stress.
Although Arbor Green is good, and it is very beneficial, it may not be enough when you're talking about a significant drought twice in one year. We recommend a biostimulant and it has humates, and it also has a soil penetrant in it as well. If you think about soil as a sponge, right now the sponge is shriveled up and it's dry. If you know what that's like, when you start to put water on a shriveled up and dry sponge, it's hard for it to soak in. That soil may not be as prime right now as it would be if it was managed.
The biostimulant with the soil penetrant, it basically, it'll loosen up the soil in a way, it will deposit organic material in the pores that it creates when we're doing these soil injections. Then the soil penetrant will then make the soil or the soil sponge, let's call it, more able to take in water and fertilizer and allow it to distribute within that soil profile in the root zone. Yes, fertilizer is great, but we also recommend a two-step soil care when it comes to liquid services. That'll address the mineral and the biological component of soil. Then basically, all you have left is the physical component. We could talk a little bit about that as well.
Doug: I was just wondering, is it that two separate applications then of the fertilizer and then the other thing, are they done together?
Brad: Yes, our two-step soil care program that we've been recommending involves, the first step would be a liquid humate and a phosphonate application, and like I was saying, all the benefits of the biostimulant, which has humates in it. Also, we mix a phosphonate in it, which is known to be a fertilizer, but also a systemic fungicide. This product basically helps plants improve their natural defense mechanisms, deal with stress factors like drought. We've been using this in beech leaf disease trials, where it's shown to decrease nematode population. If you think about it, the trees are more able to defend themselves against pest pressure.
Healthy soils, healthy trees are better to take in the fertilizer and put it to use because the Arbor Green PRO that we inject into the soil, the microbes help prepare that tree for uptake for the tree roots. It's not like the tree can just-- and that's, I guess, part of the reason why Arbor Green won't burn is because it can only be taken in as it becomes available through the soil and the microbes and the tree roots with water. Yes, complicated stuff, isn't it?
Doug: Yes. Since we're talking drought, let's talk a little bit about watering. How do which trees to water and which ones you shouldn't or should everything be watered? Before we started recording, I was telling Brad, like I tell all the arborists, I live in this oak forest, "I got big giant trees that I wouldn't water, but like one that's two or three years old, I'm going to want to put water on it." We're in the same boat over here in Pittsburgh that you are. We had the same drought in May, and now we're into another one. I'll tell you what, Brad, my least favorite job is watering.
Brad: Fortunately we do provide deep root watering services, and we'll use the same equipment that we would use to apply the biostimulant or Arbor Green. That is helpful, especially when you've got larger trees with larger root zones. The thing as it relates to soil and watering is, and back to the sponge analysis, is that, if you go out there and you try to water your trees and the soil is compacted and dry, you're not going to get the water down, you're going to end up having a lot of it run off. It's not going to go as deep into the soil profile as it would. That all ties back to healthy soils and the structure.
When we're talking about how can we improve the physical structure of soil, we are talking about using air tools. It's called an air spade or it's a pneumatic excavation tool, supersonic pneumatic excavation tool. We use that to fracture the soil. There's a few services we can do with that. One is a root crown excavation, so if you have too much soil or mulch piled around the base of a tree, we can blow it away, and then lower the grade a little bit because that can because improper root development. If you have excess soil out into the root zone of the tree, we can blow that away from the base of your tree. That's one step.
The next step is, some trees are growing in a grassy area and people don't want to have a giant tree ring around the tree. What we may recommend is called vertical mulching, to where we can blow holes in a grid using this air tool to excavate the soil in somewhat of a grid pattern. If you've ever seen how a lawn is aerated, where cores are taken, somewhat in a grid pattern in a way, or a uniform pattern, we do something similar, but it's not mechanical tools, it's an air tool. It blows away the soil, the roots are not harmed, and then we backfill those holes with biochar, which is a stable organic material.
It resists compaction, it provides a good drainage habitat for that area of the soil, so it allows water to percolate down more. Then we can also do soil invigoration, which would be if you have trees growing in beds that are compacted, the soil may not be good quality. We can work with that soil, break it up without harming any tree roots, amend it with biochar and other organic material like composted manure, leaf humus, and then use the air spade to mix it vertically into the soil profile, which is very beneficial.
The thing is, after you do something like that, it's best to stay off of it. If you think about when would be the right time to do this soil invigoration? One would be as if you have a mature tree that's very stressed right now. If you've seen a large tree that has tips dying back, branches changing early fall color, maybe it's been exposed to construction damage. Those are like, sound the alarm, we got to save this tree. One way to do that is by looking at the soil and how can we correct that?
Doug: That's fascinating all that and the vertical mulching, I've never heard of that. It's really cool. Can't you talk those people into putting a mulch ring down there?
Brad: Yes, we oftentimes do actually that may not be enough or like I said, if we're talking about a really stressed out tree or something that we really want to focus on improving the health, we'll do a root crown excavation, we'll install a tree ring, but this tree might be mature and it might have a wider canopy and therefore, then what you'd want to do is the vertical mulching so it doesn't damage the lawn, you're improving the soil characteristics for the tree and it's some way to help manage how trees and turf battle for resources. It's just one way to help the trees out without affecting your lawn
Doug: when you're dealing with all these different weather conditions, from your professional opinion, what is worse for you, drought or too much rain?
Brad: It would be rare to have a situation where there was too much rain that caused widespread tree damage. If you think about it really, the areas that had poor drainage or low spots, yes, those would be affected, but when you have drought, you're looking at widespread impact to trees, so I'd have to say drought is worse than too much rain.
Doug: Brad, I wanted to ask you, how did you get into this? Why is this job right for you?
Brad: That's a good question. First of all, I like being outside. I, as a teenager, I liked cutting grass, I was a landscaper, and I really enjoyed that. While I was in college, I started studying biology and I realized that Davey Tree was a great place to work because I had gotten a job as a summer intern for two years doing landscaping, and I realized how great the company was and how many different career paths there were so I started to study people that were in the company and see like who out there has a job that I think I would like to have after college? I started to look at people and then reach out to them and ask them how they got the job they're in.
Then as I was going through school at Muskingum College studying biology, I made it pretty clear to myself that I wanted to work for Davey Tree. I geared myself towards botany and studying trees and after college, I got into urban forestry, which was a great career choice for me. It made me passionate about trees and challenges myself, and something that I enjoy. It's hard work so if you're going to work hard, and you're going to dedicate yourself to your career, you might as well find something you like to do and something you can enjoy
Doug: In my case, I do have a lot of mulch out there and mulch rings around these trees. When I have it mulched the right way, which of course, is not touching the bottom of the tree, every year that I'm putting mulch on, is that helping my soil a little bit?
Brad: It can and I don't know how often you're out there in the garden, but one thing you should probably do is cultivate your mulch. It does take work, but it helps and it's something to help you keep the beds weed-free. For me, if you're cultivating it, and then you're monitoring how much mulch is going on each application, some people just stick to an annual contract of two inches of mulch every year, and they don't really think about it, but if you're active in your garden and you see what's going on, you can make some informed decisions on what to do, when to hold off, when to cultivate, when to add more mulch.
If you're if you stick to those guidelines and you and you cultivate and you reapply as only proper depths, then you're going to be in good shape, but if you leave it for years, you've let it accumulate, then it's not good. You're going to have too much mulch, it creates heat in the root areas, it'll shed water away, so definitely proper mulching which you can find information on Davey's website or even ISA, which we try to follow the industry standards when it comes to stuff like that. It's pretty well published on the proper techniques for mulching.
Doug: I said watering was my least favorite job, but I think I'd have to put weeding up above that. I will get out there and cultivate and so part of that cultivation, when I have mulch down there, it's just like breaking it up, breaking the top up a little bit, make sure there's no weeds in there, that sort of thing.
Brad: Yes, you can use a hoe, you can use a mini tiller, but I do it pretty regularly. Grass will get in your beds when you're mowing the grass and if you like a tidy looking landscape, it helps keep the mulch look fresh too.
Doug: Then how often should we be mulching?
Brad: I think it's a question of as needed. Most people mulch once per year, but you can-- What I would recommend actually, is a spring mulching with a fall cultivation. That to me, seems to provide the best look and benefits for your beds and your soil and stuff like that, but like I said, you got to monitor. Anyways, if you're in your beds, and you're hoeing around and you're seeing what's underneath the top layer, then it's easy for you to stay connected with what your soil's like and what decisions you need to make.
Doug: When you're on site, do you pretty much get a pretty good idea what the soil is like by looking at the tree by knowing the area? Over here in Pittsburgh area, it's either going to be clay or shale. That's what we deal with there.
Brad: You can. Right now, you get a glimpse of the ground, you're going to see that it looks cracked and dry. You can also gauge what the color looks like. Light colors usually indicate lower organic material. You can feel it as well. When you're walking around, you can literally feel what the ground is like underneath you. It's like the difference between walking on a plush carpet and a hardwood floor. You can just tell that the ground is hard.
That's back to that the discussion about when to take a soil test. That may be what you need to demonstrate your expertise, but you can just use your own logic and reasoning to evaluate how hard the ground, is if the soil looks like it is healthy or not because if you think about it, you go to a garden center and you look at potted plants and what that soil's like, how Light it is, how dark in color it is, how well it takes water in and you compare that to soil that you would find in someone's front yard, which is usually hard and light colored and completely opposite of what you would find if you were to imagine what good versus poor looking soil is.
Doug: Before I let you go, talk about being able to get to a property, looking at the trees, then adding these different treatments and seeing them thrive. That, to me, for what you do, sounds like a very gratifying part of your job
Brad: It is, but you have to be able to demonstrate your expertise, show your resources, which is why I'm so proud to work with Davey Tree Expert Company with all the resources we have, with all the technical literature we have to support our recommendations and then you just got to know what you're doing. When we're talking about soil health, and why we recommend it, it's for general plant health. It's not something that's going to protect trees from all problems.
There's a few different diseases or pests I can think of that will affect healthy trees; emerald ash borer, oak wilt, Dutch elm disease, those things don't care if a tree is healthy or in stress. Other problems that we'll find in the landscape, other diseases like verticillium wilt, cytospora canker. Different types of diseases that will come on if a tree is under stress are closely tied to soil health. That's why we feel like if, for example, if you love your Japanese maple, don't run the risk of letting it get stressed out by drought and poor soil health and lack of fertility because we know that it's susceptible to verticillium wilt and if you let it get stressed, it's going to succumb to that, most likely.
Same thing with the Colorado blue spruce. If you like a blue spruce, then you have to take care of it, otherwise it's going to start to show signs of stress, and it's going to look bad. We try to be smart about when we recommend, what we recommend and if anything else, maybe we take in steps. If you're unwilling to do all three aspects of soil care, then we'll start with Arbor Green, the mineral component and then we step towards the humates and the biostimulants, and then we'll work towards a physical decompaction. Like I said, sometimes it's time to sound the alarm if you've got a mature tree that's under stress and you want to save it, then you might want to consider all three aspects of soil care
Doug: Brad, it all makes sense to me. You explained it pretty well. I actually understand now what I'm supposed to be doing. Good stuff. Appreciate your time, and I'm sure we will talk again. Thank you so much.
Brad: Yes, thanks a lot. Check out Davey.com/soilcare if you want to really see some infographics and get a little more information about this topic on soil care.
Doug: Sounds good, and we appreciate it. Thank you.
Brad: Yes. All right. Thanks a lot, Doug.
Doug: As we learned, there's nothing more important than soil health for our trees and for our gardens too. Tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees podcast from the Davey Tree Expert Company. I am your host Doug Oster and do me a favor please, subscribe to the podcast so you'll never miss an episode. If you've got an idea for a show or maybe a comment, send us an email to podcasts@davey.com. That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-S @ D-A-V-E-Y.com and as always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast, you know it, "Trees are the answer."
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