Winter storms create safety hazards
The following excerpts are from an article written by Timothy J. Malinich, Extension Educator, Horticulture at Ohio State University Extension, Lorain County.
Compacted soils, especially in new suburban developments, can be the nemesis of any landscape. Unfortunately, condition of soils, fill, and grading material for the ultimate installation of landscape material is usually not the main concern of the builder. Landscapes are installed in, or over top of, these highly compacted soils with little modification to the local soil or consideration of the entire soil profile. In some cases plant material fails within a season or two of installation. Generally, however, the landscape fails to thrive or slowly declines over several years with the eventual demise blamed on insect or disease problems. Soil and water, the base that the landscape is built upon, needs to be considered when diagnosing failure of plant material in the landscape.
Water, Water, Everwhere
In highly compacted soils plant material may exhibit nutrient and / or water problems. The actual problem is NOT the availability of nutrients or water but the inability of the roots to function well and provide those nutrients to the plant. For instance, larger woody specimens may leaf out and show reasonable terminal growth in the spring. However, when hot windy weather ensues in July and August, the plant rapidly fails; the roots are not effectively moving water into the plant. This may result in severe leaf scorch or death of the entire plant. This problem is worse in instances where the plant would be prone to scorch in the first place. For example, a dogwood planted in full sun, next to a brick house or drive would be prone to heat related scorch. Poor root development in compacted soils would make the scorch worse and even lead to the death of the tree.
In a recent example, large trees installed in a lanscape were apparently in good condition. Four years of terminal growth was inspected to gauge the yearly shoot expansion. During the year of installation the tree put on good growth, but this was a carry-over effect from the relatively good condition of the plant prior to leaving the nursery. The following year, terminal growth was less than half of the installation year. The third year terminal growth was one-third of the original year and the fourth season shoot expansion ranged from three inches down to only one inch on most brances.
