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Is it really soil?

Wayne Hobbs, Environmental Horticulture Agent
Posted 3/28/18

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Is your lawn lazy in spots? Are your flowers floundering?

Oftentimes if the answer is yes, you may think some disease or pest is killing it but the fact is that most plant …

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Is it really soil?


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Is your lawn lazy in spots? Are your flowers floundering?

Oftentimes if the answer is yes, you may think some disease or pest is killing it but the fact is that most plant issues come back to the ground they are planted in. With poor soil, roots do not grow, nutrients are not present or are unavailable, and water is held too long or runs out before plants can use it. These soil issues can even lead to pests and diseases attacking the weakened plants.

So, the question is, what is wrong with your soil?

Comes Back to Construction

Depending on where you live in the county, there are some natural differences in soil, but many soil issues around homes come from the standard construction practices used by your builder. When a subdivision is created, often the grade of the soil is changed with our limited topsoil being moved, buried or even sold at times. This is all done to get the slab foundations of the homes above the 100-year flood plain and poorly developed soils from the digging of retention ponds or from other areas are used.

This means the soil is changed forever, with a set of new characteristics that often lead to issues for the landscape.

Along with the changing of the soil, concrete is mixed on surfaces which can change the pH and leave debris and equipment traffic often compacts the soil, making it very difficult for plants to set their roots and thrive. Heavy equipment also can bring in weeds and invasive plants from other sites. Overall, the more disturbance there is to a site, the more problems will show up in the future.

Adapting Your Landscape

So, your soil is damaged. What do you do now?

The first step is to understand the way your landscape behaves and choose plants that could likely survive in harsher environments. Check for the way the sun moves through the day, where plants are doing poorly, dry and wet spots that are prone to flooding, and anything that may work for or against your landscape. This may take quite a while to determine since the site characteristics will change throughout the year but this step is well worth it.

You should also get a soil test performed based upon areas of differing characteristics in the landscape. The UF/IFAS Clay County Extension Office offers free soil pH testing to citizens and the University of Florida offers affordable nutrient testing as well. Contact the extension office at (904)284-6355 for more information.

Once you know your site, begin to choose your plants that will work best. A great resource can be found at https://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/FYN_Plant_Selection_Guide_2015.pdf , which is a guide of great Florida-Friendly plants for the landscape with information about their characteristics. A couple of items to remember is that Clay County is Zone 9a, so avoid any plants that do not survive in our zone.

After developing your plan, the job begins to determine your management strategies for your site, which we will cover in the next few weeks based upon landscape beds, turf and vegetable gardens.

If you have any horticultural, agricultural, 4-H, or family and consumer science questions, contact the University of Florida/IFAS Clay County Extension Office online at http://www.clay.ifas.ufl.edu or call by phone at (904) 284-6355.