Soil is more than dirt and serves as the foundation of your landscape. It pays to focus on the significance of soil if you want a healthy landscape.
Soils serve many functions in your landscape:
Soils act like sponges, soaking up rainwater and limiting runoff.
Soils act like faucets, storing and releasing water and air for plants and animals to use.
Soils act like supermarkets, providing valuable nutrients and air and water to plants and animals. Soils also store carbon and prevent its loss into the atmosphere.
Soils act like strainers or filters, filtering and purifying water and air that flow through them.
Soils act like a pantry, storing nutrients for future use by plants and animals above ground and by microbes within the soils.
Much of Colorado's soil is heavy clay and can be alkaline, which can be challenging for the plants we like. Our soil may need some help in order to help our landscapes thrive. You cannot change the temperature, wind, or dry air we see in our state, but you can amend the soil to make it more hospitable to plant life.
We at Bearss Landscaping recommend and use Biosol© in all of our sod and planting jobs. Biosol©, represented by Rocky Mountain Bio Products, is an all-purpose, natural organic fertilizer and soil amendment. Its high quality organic nutrients, organic substances and chitin are the stable, long lasting nutrients that help build plant and soil health. It is plant-based, sterilized, and free of weed seeds.
Now is the time to think about how you can amend your soil so that it is ready to support your landscape this spring. The Soil, Water and Plant Testing Laboratory at Colorado State University can perform a soil test to help you determine what needs to be done to improve soil health in your landscape. Locally, you can pick up a test kit at Bradys West Garden Center in Salida.
Start with performing a soil test, then consider using a good, quality soil amendment such as Biosol©, so that you have a healthy foundation - soil - for your landscape.
References
Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (2021, Feb. 5). Tip of the Week: Plants of the Year. https://www.alcc.com/tip-of-the-week-email
Rocky Mountain Bio Products https://wefixdirt.com/applications/turf-parks-and-lawns/
Colorado State University Soil Testing Lab http://www.soiltestinglab.colostate.edu/