Strategies and techniques to remediate compacted, poorly draining soils

2007 | Nina Bassuk, Cornell University

Lack of adequate soil volume is the primary factor limiting root growth and thus tree canopy growth in developed sites.  Clearly bigger is better: the more penetrable soil volume available to a tree, the more rapidly and ultimately larger it will grow.  However, soil amendment and modification techniques are difficult and poorly described in a readily accessible way for those in the field.  Landscape managers and arborists need a manual that will allow them to assess a soil’s ability to support root growth coupled with multiple strategies for ameliorating that soil.  We will modify some of the newest soil health information now available to farmers for application in the built landscape.  The end product will be a manual that describes a field applicable soil assessment process with a range of soil modification techniques graphically represented.

Year: 2007

Funding Duration: 3-5 years

Grant Program: Hyland Johns

Grant Title: Strategies and Techniques to Remediate Compacted, Poorly Draining Soils

Researcher: Nina Bassuk

Key words: soil volume; root growth; soil assessment manual;

Peer Reviewed Publications from Grant:

• Sax, M.S., Bassuk, N., van Es, H., Rakow, D., 2017 Long-Term Remediation of Compacted Urban Soils by Physical Fracturing and Incorporation of Compost, Urban Forestry and Urban Greening (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.03.023.
• Dropkin, E. Bassuk, N. and Signorelli, T.2017 “Woody Shrubs for Water Retention Practices” 2^nd edition July, 2017 .57 pages. http://www.hort.cornell.edu/uhi/outreach/pdfs/woody_shrubs_stormwater.pdf

General Audience/Trade Publications:

• Bassuk, NL and Day, S. 2012. Site Design: Soils. pp 247-322 in M. Calkins, editor. The Sustainable Sites Handbook: A Complete Guide to the Principles, Strategies, and Best Practices for Sustainable Landscapes. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ. View the Publication >

Presentations:

• Bassuk, Nina. “Reducing Tree (and Soil!) Damage during Construction.” Invited webinar sponsored by TREE Fund and hosted by Utah State University Forestry Extension, December 2018. treefund.org/webinars
• Bassuk, Nina. “Remediating Compacted Soils Compromised by Urban Construction.” Invited webinar sponsored by TREE Fund and hosted by Utah State University Forestry Extension, June 2019. treefund.org/webinars

For more information on this project, contact the researcher via TREE Fund at treefund@treefund.org.